A fine and rare Chinese clair-de-lune-glazed water pot, Qing dynasty, 17th/18th century
清十七或十八世紀 天藍釉蘋果尊

Of pingguo zun form, elegantly potted with rounded sides rising from a recessed base to an incurved rim, the exterior decorated with a pale blue clair-de-lune glaze, the surface glaze of the base ground down to the pale white porcelain beneath

(Quantity:1)

Dimensions: 6.5cm high, 10cm diameter

From a private London collection, thence by descent

來源：
倫敦私人收藏，家族承傳

Whilst the base has been ground down to the biscuit, it is certainly possible this water pot once bore a six-character Kangxi mark in underglaze blue, although a definitive attribution cannot be made.

During the Kangxi period, the renowned ba da ma ('Eight Great Numbers' - referring to the eight classic shapes of wares created for the scholar's table) were produced for the imperial court. Clair de lune, a pale or lavender-blue glaze with a low cobalt content, was first seen during this period in the latter half of the 17th century, with the softest light-blue shade reserved for the imperial court and named tian lan you ('sky after the rain'). This elegant and skilfully-potted jar epitomizes the Kangxi emperor's pursuit of quality and technical excellence at the kilns in Jingdezhen, and the simple monochrome glaze can also be seen as a nod to ceramics of the Song dynasty, which were praised for their restrained aesthetic refinement.

See a comparable jar from the Cadle Family Collection, Kangxi mark and of the period, formed with a recessed, narrow-waisted neck which has possibly been ground down in the present lot, sold at Sotheby's New York, 21 March 2023, lot 5 [link]; and another in the same rooms, 25 April 2004, lot 45 [link]. See also a clair-de-lune water pot sold at Christie's New York, 17 Sep 2010, lot 1408 [link]. Another water pot, this one with a different style of rim, was sold at Bonhams Hong Kong, 5 May 2025, lot 251 [link].

Compare four clair-de-lune waterpots of this form from the Widener collection, now in the National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., and illustrated in 'Decorative Arts', part II, Washington, 1998, pp.93-7; others in the Shanghai Museum, illustrated in 'Kangxi Porcelain Ware from the Shanghai Museum Collection', Hong Kong, 1998, pl. 216; in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, included in Suzanne G. Valenstein, 'A Handbook of Chinese Ceramics', New York, 1989, pl. 240; and one illustrated in John Ayers, 'Chinese Ceramics in the Baur Collection', vol. 2, Geneva, 1999, pl. 178.