Out of Storage: Small Vase, Great Story

Peach bloom was the most exquisite of the copper-red glazes produced during the reign of the Emperor Kangxi. This unique colour is encountered in only eight types of porcelain vessels prescribed for the imperial family as writing accessories for the scholars’ tables. These vessels were later dubbed by connoisseurs the “Eight Great Numbers” (ba da ma, 八大码). All bearing the six-character Kangxi reign mark on their base, they comprise a coiled-dragon vase (panlong ping, 蟠龙瓶), a ring-necked vase (laifu ping, 莱菔瓶), a lotus petal vase (heban ping, 荷瓣瓶), a Guanyin vase (Guanyin ping, 观音瓶), a water pot (taibai zun, 太白尊), an apple-shaped water pot (pingguo zun, 苹果尊), a gong-shaped brush washer (tangluo xi, 镗啰洗) and a seal-paste box (yinni he, 印泥盒).¹

With dark red flecks and a delicate foot, the MMFA’s tapering vase is one of the eight prescribed vessels, a Guanyin vase. Its slender shape references the libation bottle carried by the Bodhisattva of Compassion, Guanyin (观音). It is also known in Chinese as a “willow-leaf vase” (liuye ping, 柳叶瓶) for its association with Guanyin in her manifestation as the bodhisattva holding a willow branch (柳叶观音).

Peach bloom glazed “Eight Great Numbers” were produced at the imperial kilns at Jingdezhen (Jiangxi) only over a four-decade period (1680-1722), under the direction and initial supervision of Zang Yingxuan and his designer Liu Yuan.² At the time, these high-temperature copper-red glazes were notoriously difficult to produce, as this elusive copper oxide required a sophisticated procedure involving a series of firings and applications. The process began with a thin glaze being applied to the body. The copper-red pigment was then sprayed onto the vessel through a bamboo tube covered with a thin gauze. Lastly, the surface was covered with a layer of transparent glaze.³ Peach bloom was the epitome of the monochrome porcelains of the Kangxi period, with subdued variations, ranging from deep muted ash tones, to rose and apple red, to a lighter, luminous glowing peach pink.

The MMFA’s vase has a high foot, which has been left unglazed to accommodate a wooden stand.⁴ Like other ba da ma vases found around the world, it shows little signs of use and was likely appreciated by the imperial household as a precious work of art to adorn their desks rather than as a functional vessel.

The Museum was given this peach bloom Guanyin vase in 1944 by the wife of the late Charles F. Martin, the former President of McGill University and Director of the Art Association of Montreal (today the MMFA), from 1938 to 1947. The Martins originally acquired the vase from the collection of Canadian artist G. L. Lamartine, in exchange for items from their own collection. Peach bloom vases, like our fine example, reached the North American market in the late 19th century and were sold for what were astronomical amounts at the time. Today, peach bloom vessels continue to fetch among the highest prices in Ming and Qing porcelain at auction.⁵ Similar examples are found in the collections of the Palace Museum, Beijing, the Shanghai Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the National Palace Museum, Taipei, the British Museum, London, and the Baur Collection, Geneva.

Our small, yet precious Guanyin vase will soon be shown off in one of the galleries of the Stephan Crétier and Stéphany Maillery Wing for the Arts of One World.