374.
A ‘ROBIN’S EGG’ GLAZED BOTTLE VASE, TIANQIUPING
Qing dynasty, 18th century
18,5 cm high
Provenance:Naples, Villa della Floridiana, Museo Duca di Martina, Placido de Sangro (1829-1891) collection.
inv. n. 3402.
The Yongzheng emperor had a particular passion for the variegated Jun glaze of the Song and Ming dynasties. He then asked to Tang Ying, the brilliant superintendent of Jingdezhen, to try to reproduce the effect of that revered glaze. Tang Ying sent some of his assistants to the far Jun region in Henan to learn from local artisans the ancient techniques, furthermore ordering them to collect raw ceramic material and send it to Jingdezhen.
One of the result of those experiments was the so-called ‘robin-egg’ mottled glaze, named by Tang Ying lu Jun (literally “oven Jun”), which was fired in low-temperature ovens instead of high-temperature kilns.
The lu Jun glaze is listed in the “Commemorative Stele on Ceramic Production” (Taocheng jishi bei) compiled in 1735 by Tang Ying, who considered it one of his most successful production, suitable to be regularly sent to the imperial court.
