(1862-1874) The Qing (Manchu) dynasty’s ninth emperor and the shortest Chinese imperial reign began when Tongzhi became emperor at age 5 and died at 19. His mother Empress Dowager Cixi sat behind a curtain in the audience hall and ruled the kingdom. Under this reign there were some attempts at political reforms known as the Tongzhi Restoration. Our pieces from this period consist of blue and white underglaze porcelains and high-fired coral red glazed pieces with orange saffron tones appearing during various reigns but were especially during the Tongzhi Period. This includes bowls, vases and hat stands, all simply made shapes whose firings resulted in orange-red and saffron colors. Often with a monotone color on the outside, gold linear decorations and/or lines of gold calligraphy were often painted over the glaze and the interiors were normally white.
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Charming miniature pitcher probably used in a restaurant or home kitchen as a dispenser for soy sauce, oils or other liquids. Elegant shape, covered with chrysanthemums, plantain leaves and bindweed vines with lotus bud on top.
This is unusual piece was likely on a scholar’s desk along with pots, brushes, water droppers, boxes, ink stones and other daily used objects used for a variety of tasks: a brush holder, a paper weight and more. With its round body covered with the landscape of a Chinese village, mountains and seas and the calligraphic name of the scholar owner Shu Dai Ji (舒逮吉) it would be perfect for placement on any style desk or in a study.
This elegantly shaped and beautiful high-fired antique porcelain ewer was decorated on its outside with a saffron-colored glaze called a coral red glaze. The sides have a white glazed quatrefoil panel with hand-painted multi-colored floral designs on a white background within a gold frame interspersed among sinuous gold leaf vines across the body and neck and a white glaze covers the inside and bottom. Its beauty is enhanced with its graceful spout, colorful white and gold panel beautiful.
Utilitarian ceramics like this were used in home kitchens and restaurants to hold oil, sauces, soy or other liquids. This spouted blue and white porcelain jar has four loops, also called lugs, so a natural fiber such as rattan could be threaded to either secure a top create a way to hang it to a peg. Sealing the top was very useful if the jars contained liquid and needed to be transported. The piece is decorated in a free and expressive manner with a charming impression of a country scene of a building in a landscape surrounded by tall trees. The cobalt is thick and dark in some areas of the foliage and applied with a thin, sparing and light brush elsewhere.
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