Dimensions: Height 56 cm Wide 23 cm Depth 23 cm
Weight: 6994 grams

The vase is of elegant baluster form with a gently swelling body rising to a tall waisted neck and an everted rim. It is covered overall with a rich, even copper-red glaze of the type known as langyao hong (“Lang kiln red”) or sang-de-bœuf (“oxblood”), shading from a deep crimson at the shoulder to slightly lighter tones towards the rim and foot. The glaze stops neatly at the foot, revealing the buff-coloured body and a clean, unglazed footrim.

This vibrant glaze, perfected at the imperial kilns of Jingdezhen under the Kangxi emperor, was further refined during the Yongzheng period to produce a lustrous, thick red suffused with subtle blue and purple streaking. The dramatic tonal depth and even application of the present vase demonstrate this high level of technical achievement.

Comparative examples:
A similar copper-red glazed vase of comparable form and size, Kangxi mark and period, is illustrated in Imperial Porcelain of the Qing Dynasty, The Palace Museum, Beijing, vol. II, p. 188, no. 129. Another was sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 8 April 2011, lot 2907.