By Chu Zhiying
Christie's announced recently that it would hold the autumn auction in early December 2008. Among all Chinese porcelain artworks on auction, a butterfly vase with pink background and mixed glaze channels specially made for Emperor Qianlong in Qing dynasty possessed by Fonthill Heirlooms was very attractive. In all present porcelain artworks specially made for Qianlong, the vase is a unique work. No identical work has been found. The vase is long and slim with an elegant shape. The pattern was drawn extremely delicately. Patterns are carved on the mixed glaze background. Vivid butterflies with various poses painted with colorful enamels are elaborate and unique.
In mixed glaze porcelain artworks at domestic and overseas auctions in recent years, Guan kiln porcelain made in such three periods as Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong of Qing dynasty are favored very much. They are always launched at astonishing prices. For instance, at Sotheby's 2000 Spring Exhibitions and Auctions, a Qing Qianlong mixed glaze flower and butterfly gourd vase with Ruyi handles was auctioned at the price of HK$33.045 million; At Sotheby's 2002 Spring Exhibitions and Auctions, a Qing Yongzheng mixed glaze bat and peach patterned olive vase was auctioned at the price of HK$41.50 million; At Guardian 2008 Spring Auction, a consecrated Qing Qianlong mixed glaze vase with a plate-shaped mouth and the pattern of Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea, was auctioned at RMB52.8 million yuan; At Hong Kong Christie's Autumn Auction, a Qing Qianlong royalty enamel bowl with the pattern of Swallows in Almond Woods, was auctioned at over HK$150 million, which cause a sensation.
In the spring of 2007, the trend went on. Hong Kong Sotheby's auctioned a Qing Yongzheng mixed glaze hexagonal vase with embossed flowers and birds design on lemon-yellow background at the price of HK$22.4928 million in April 2007; At Hong Kong Christie's 2007 Spring Auction, a Qing Yongzheng mixed glaze over-branch happiness & longlife bowl was auctioned at the price of HK$50.72 million; At the spring auction of that year, China Guardian Auctions auctioned a Qing Yongzheng mixed glaze hollow-carved flower-pattern incense burner with golden drawing on green background, which was estimated at only RMB600 thousand to 800 thousand yuan, at the price of RMB26.432 million yuan; Meanwhile, Beijing Hanhai Auction Co., Ltd. auctioned a large Qing Qianlong mixed glaze vase with golden flowers on blue background at the price of RMB24.08 million yuan.
Mixed glaze porcelain artworks were originated since Kangxi period, developed during Yongzheng period and reached the peak during Qianlong period. Plus, Emperor Yong Zheng dominated the nation for only 13 years, there are few Yongzheng mixed glaze porcelain artworks existing in the world now. They are rare. Qianlong mixed glaze artworks are less elegant than Yongzheng artworks, but they are brilliant and luxurious enough to meet the expectation of grand occasions, so they attracted much attention as soon as they were launched.
However, in the autumn of 2007, such a trend declined somewhat. Mixed glaze artworks of Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong periods are rarely seen at auction, and Jiaqing mixed glaze porcelain artworks began to make a figure. Industry insiders said that auction companies could hardly collect large or important color porcelain artworks of Kangxi, Qianlong, and Yongzheng periods, thus the market declined. On the auction market in the spring of 2008, the situation didn't change. Zhongmao Shengjia auctioned a Qing Qianlong mixed glaze lotus terrace with eight talismans at the price of RMB20.16 million yuan, which was the largest spotlight of the spring auction in 2008. Among the artworks at the autumn auction of Sotheby's, which conducted pre-exhibition recently in Beijing, there is only one mixed glaze flat vase with double handles, seeming to confirm the saying in the industry.
If the scarcity of large mixed glaze porcelain artworks of Kangxi, Qianlong and Yongzheng Guan kiln leads to the relatively depression of porcelain auction market, the butterfly vase of Christie's will definitely attract much attention. It's very expectable whether the Guan kiln mixed glaze could continue its brilliance in this autumn. Though experiences showed that any kind of artworks can't always keep a rising momentum and once their prices reach a height, there will definitely appear a stagnation or adjustment, scarcity leads to higher price. When a scarce treasure appears, we believe that such an expectation will rather increase than decrease.
