Legend has it that taotie is a voracious eater who never gets satisfied – therefore it is cast with a pair of raised eyes but sometimes no jaw area, serving as a reminder for the nobility not to spend extravagantly. Adding to the vase’s exquisiteness, it is set with two taotie-mask handles suspending mock rings, brightly painted in deep shades of cobalt.Ī Chinese mythological beast, taotie is a common motif on Shang and Zhou bronzes. The shape of the present vase, finely moulded and harmoniously proportioned, is based on an archaic bronze hu form – a vital vessel used for rituals during Shang and Zhou dynasties. Similar decorative patterns on a vase produced under the supervision of Tang Ying Hoping to please the Emperor, Tang and his potters drawn extensively on archaic styles and forms, creating pieces that are both steeped in tradition and fashionable, such as the present lot. When it comes to ceramics, the revered Emperor was extremely hard to please: he enjoyed objects that were simulations of other materials, favoured antiquity-inspired designs, yet sought innovation for his amusement.įortunately, Qianlong found himself a perfect right-hand man for porcelain production: Tang Ying, the most inventive and capable supervisor the imperial kilns ever had. 1735-1796) of Qing dynasty, a passionate collector of antiques and a great connoisseur of the arts. Renowned for its ‘heaped and piled’ effect created by the distinctive cobalt blue, its beauty has won the hearts of many – including the Qianlong Emperor (r. Important southern German private collection, collected before 1990Īrguably no other type of Chinese ceramics is more iconic than the blue-and-white porcelains, and those produced during early-Ming dynasty have always been considered the finest.Rainer Kreissl (1924 - 2005), according to tradition a personal gift from Mao Tse Tung to the Czech President Antonín Zapotocký (1884 - 1954) Seal mark and period of Qianlong (1735 - 1796) Lot 328 | An imperial hu-shaped porcelain vase
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