QIANLONG FOUR-CHARACTER SEAL MARK IN UNDERGLAZE BLUE AND OF THE PERIOD (1736-1795)

This jardinière was made for the Emperor Qianlong in deliberate imitation of imperial Ru wares produced in Northern Song dynasty. Song Ru wares have captured the imagination of collectors ever since they were first made, but surviving examples from the Northern Song period are very rare. A rare example of a Ru censer of similar shape and smaller size (16.4 cm.) in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, dating to the Northern Song dynasty, 11th century, and later-incised on the base with poem by the Qianlong Emperor, is illustrated by W. Fong and J. Watt in Possessing the Past, Treasures from the National Palace Museum, Taipei, p. 239, pl. 113 and fig. 94.

The Qianlong Emperor is known for his passion for antiques, and his desire to have ceramics made in close imitation of the revered wares of the Song dynasty. The current jardinière with Ru-type glaze perfectly exemplifies fine imperial ceramics of this period. Excavations at the imperial kilns at Jingdezhen have revealed that Ru-type glazes were being made for the Ming imperial court. The imitation of this revered glaze became even more popular at court in the 18th century under both the Yongzheng and Qianlong Emperors.

A slightly smaller Qianlong-period jardinière (23.1 cm. wide) of similar shape, also with a Ru-type glaze and a four-character Qianlong mark in underglaze blue, was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 29 November 2022, lot 2997.