A POWDER-BLUE GILT-DECORATED BALUSTER VASE

Kangxi

Kangxi
Covered in a lustrous dark-blue glaze, finely decorated around the exterior in gilt with various flowers beneath pendent ruyi border at the shoulder, with a silver-inlaid wood cover. The vase 21.6cm (8 1/2in) high. (2).

清康熙 灑藍地描金花鳥紋小瓶

Provenance:
Spink & Son Ltd., London,
E. A. Parry (1879-1946), London, acquired from the above on 30 September 1923, and thence by descent

來源：
倫敦古董商Spink & Son Ltd.
倫敦E. A. Parry（1879-1946）舊藏，於1923年9月30日購自上者，並由後人保存迄今

Generally referred to as 'powder blue', the attractive cobalt glaze on this piece was a Kangxi period revival of the so-called 'snowflake' blue glaze employed on wares dating to the Xuande reign. The mottled effect was produced by blowing cobalt through a piece of bamboo with a gauze over the end. Wares covered in this glaze were either left undecorated or painted in gilt over the glaze, as seen on this piece. Such gilt-decorated powder-blue wares were made both for the Imperial Court as well as many pieces made for export, although the latter often used Chinese decorative motifs as exemplified in the band of ruyi-heads on the present vase, symbolic of the auspicious wish for longevity.

See a powder-blue-glazed rouleau vase, Kangxi, decorated with gilt designs of flowers and birds, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, illustrated by S.Valenstein, A Handbook of Chinese Ceramics, New York, 1975, pl.141.

灑藍釉又稱「雪花藍」，因其釉面猶如灑落的藍色水滴，故稱灑藍。於明宣德時期出現，至清康熙時技術已完全成熟。據文獻記載，其深淺不一的藍色斑點為工匠用管子蘸上藍釉汁水，吹在白釉器物的表面，再經高溫燒製而成，製作工藝頗為繁複。御瓷和外銷瓷中皆可見此類灑藍地上以描金為飾的器物，後者常結合中國傳統吉祥紋飾，如本例肩上象徵長壽的如意云紋。

參考紐約大都會藝術博物館館藏一例清康熙灑藍釉棒槌瓶，同以描金花鳥為飾，收錄於S.Valenstein著，《A Handbook of Chinese Ceramics》，紐約，1975年，圖版141。