A CHINESE BLUE AND WHITE 'RED CLIFF' VASE

A CHINESE BLUE AND WHITE 'RED CLIFF' VASE

SIX CHARACTER KANGXI MARK AND OF THE PERIOD 1662-1722

The square-section tapering body inscribed on two sides with the two 'Odes to the Red Cliff' by the Song dynasty poet Su Dongpo (1037-96), the other two sides finely painted with scenes illustrating the poet making the trip to the famous site with his friends, the reduced neck with sprays of bamboo, 42cm.

Provenance: from the collection of Dr Oliver Impey (1936-2005), and Dr Jane (Mellanby) Impey (1938-2021), of Cumnor Place, Oxford.

A number of 'Red Cliff' vases were produced in the Jingdezhen kilns around the 1690s and painted with images deriving from woodblock prints. See Transactions of the Oriental Ceramic Society, vol.49, Sir M Butler, Chinese Porcelain at the Beginning of Qing, pp.34-35, nos.38-40 for similar 'Red Cliff' vases.