This exquisite 19th century Chinese lemon yellow glazed archaistic ritual vessel is a true antique made during the GuangXu period (1875-1908) bearing unique historical and archeological significance. The cover is incised with scripts which reads 'Fang Yuan Tian Li Fu' (仿元天历盙）, which translates to 'Imitation of the Yuan Dynasty Tianli Period(1328-1330) 'Fu' Vessel'.
Commissioned by wealthy Chinese liberati and bureaucrats class, objects like this were made to contain food offerings in ritual ceremonies. Crafted at the renowned Jingdezhen kiln, objects like this were made specifically to imitate archaic Chinese bronze ritual vessels, its form and pattern follows strict traditions from early scriptures dated to as early as to the Shang Dynasty (1766-1046 BCE).
The exterior of the vessel and its cover is enameled with a bright and vibrant lemon yellow glaze which was unique and rare to see in objects at the time. The lemon yellow glaze was invented during the early 18th century in the Yongzheng Period (1722-1735), likely from materials and pigments learned from imported European colors. This opaque yellow glaze utilizes Antimony as its main source of pigments, this is uniquely different from earlier imperial yellow glaze which mostly were made of iron. Examples of such lemon yellow wares were seen on fine and small cups and plates during the Yongzheng period.
On the bottom, the vessel is marked with underglaze blue GuangXu six-character resign mark and being of the Guangxu period (1875-1908). Similar examples of this type of ritual vessels were seen in Changshu museum in Suzhou, Jiangxi Province, in the collection of Weng Tonghe, the imperial preceptor and prime minister during the early years of Guangxu's reign.
Provenance: Private New York Collection