A fine and very rare clair-de-lune-glazed dragon-handled vase, fanghu, Seal mark and period of Qianlong | 清乾隆　天藍釉雙龍耳方壺　《大清乾隆年製》款

Collection of the Toguri Museum of Art, Tokyo.

Sotheby's London, 9th June 2004, lot 7.

Uragami Sokyu-do Co., Ltd, Tokyo.

Tobi Art Fair, Tokyo, 2008.

5th Anniversary Exhibition. All-Stars of the Okada Collection: Masterworks of Korin, Jakuchu, Hokusai and the Ru Ware Kilns, Okada Museum of Art, Hakone, 2018-19, exh. no. 139 (unillustrated).

The 30th Anniversary of Uragami Sokyu-do, Uragami Sokyu-do Co., Ltd, Tokyo, 2009, p. 150.

Uragami Mitsuru, Kobijutsusho ni manabu Chugoku Chosentoji no Mikata Erabikata

[A Dealer's Eyes: Appreciating and Collecting Chinese and Korean Ceramics], Uragami Sokyu-do Co., Ltd, Tokyo, 2011, p. 126.

Developed during the Kangxi period, the soft, gentle clair-de-lune glaze is one of the most admired Qing glazes and was reserved exclusively for Imperial porcelains that is in imitation of the celebrated Ru ware of the Northern Song dynasty (960-1127). The Qianlong Emperor is renowned for his fondness for Imperial wares of the Song dynasty. He not only collected them but also commissioned new porcelain with similar glaze from the Imperial kilns for his appreciation, one such example is from the collection of J. Pierpont Morgan, included in the exhibition The Morgan Collection of Chinese Porcelains, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1907, no. 24, was sold in these rooms, 30th April 1996, lot 397. 

The form of the current vases is extremely rare, and no other similar examples appear to have been recorded. It was likely to have been modelled after an archaic bronze in the Qing Imperial court collection, such as the archaic bronze ritual wine vessel, hu, see Liang Shizheng et al., Xiqing gujian [Catalogue of antiques in the Xiqing pavilion], vol. 19, 1755, p. 14, and was later sold at Sotheby’s New York, 18 September 2024, lot 33.

來源

戶栗美術館收藏，東京

倫敦蘇富比2004年6月9日，編號7

浦上蒼穹堂，東京

東美アートフェア，東京，2008年

展覽

《開館5周年記念展―美のスターたち―光琳．若冲．北斎．汝窯など名品勢ぞろい》， 岡田美術館，箱根，2018-19年，展覽編號139（沒載圖）

出版

《浦上蒼穹堂30周年記念》，浦上蒼穹堂，東京，2009年，頁150

浦上満，《古美術商にまなぶ中国．朝鮮古陶磁の見かた、選びかた》，浦上蒼穹堂，東京，2011年，頁126

天藍釉創燒於康熙時期，是清代御窰中最受推崇的顏色之一，專為御用瓷器所用。此方瓶器型優雅，是乾隆時期單色釉瓷的代表作，反映乾隆皇帝崇古之風。雍乾二帝尤好宋瓷，不僅搜珍藏雅，還命景德鎮官窰仿製，參看一例乾隆仿汝釉長頸瓶，為美國收藏家J.P.摩根收藏，曾於大都會博物館展覽，見《The Morgan Collection of Chinese Porcelains》，紐約，1907年，編號24，後售於香港蘇富比1996年4月30日，編號397。

此式器型的四方瓶造型非常罕見，目前尚未見有其他相類器物記錄。其造型可能受清宮舊藏的青銅器影響，如一件西周中期的周㗬壺，見梁詩正等，《西清古鑑》，卷19，1755年，頁14（器銘及線描），後售於紐約蘇富比，2024年9月18日，拍品編號33。