Antique Catalogue: Fifty Lectures on Antique Appraisal by Cai Guosheng

Author: Cai Guosheng
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-10-01
Features:
7. Qing Kangxi Langyao Red Garlic-Head Bottle
Langyao Red, also known as Langyao, is a type of imperial porcelain glaze created by Lang Tingji, the Jiangxi Provincial Governor and Jingdezhen kiln supervisor during the 44th to 51st years of the Kangxi reign. Lang Tingji, styled Ziheng, was deeply fond of ancient artifacts and had extensive knowledge of ceramics. To cater to the interests of the Kangxi Emperor (the Holy Ancestor of the Qing Dynasty), he devoted considerable effort to the porcelain industry in Jingdezhen. Langyao's greatest success lay in the firing of red glaze wares. The Langyao Red was Lang Tingji's masterpiece. After the mid-Ming Dynasty, the techniques for firing copper-red glazes were nearly lost, but they were revived and developed during the early Qing Dynasty under Kangxi, with Langyao being an exceptionally successful example of imitating the Ming Xuande (Jade Red Glaze).
Contemporary scholar Liu Tingji, in his Zaiyuan Zazhi (Notes from the Garden), remarked that Lang Tingji's imitations of Ming Chenghua and Xuande porcelain "were indistinguishable from the real thing" and "extremely difficult to differentiate." Another scholar, Xu Jinzhai during the Kangxi era, also praised in verse: "The porcelain of Xuande and Chenghua of former dynasties is celebrated; recently, Langyao stands out as the finest. Langyao is named after the Supervisor of the Central Court." Thus, Langyao Red marked a new breakthrough in the firing of red glaze porcelain, with both form and glaze displaying unique craftsmanship. Therefore, the new achievements in red glaze porcelain production during this period hold great significance.
Langyao Red was an imperial kiln glaze from the Kangxi era, primarily because Lang Tingji served as the Jingdezhen kiln supervisor, and naturally, the wares he oversaw were imperial. The imperial kiln included the imperial kiln (yuyao), which refers to kilns that produced porcelain exclusively for the emperor's use or to those whose products were designated as imperial. This is a narrow definition of the imperial kiln. In reality, items for the emperor's use extended beyond his personal belongings to include ritual vessels, rewards, and gifts—such as those given to high-ranking officials, royal family members during weddings, foreign envoys, and so on. Thus, all items within this scope were considered imperial kiln products.
The bottle in the image is 41.5 cm tall and 18.5 cm in diameter, resembling a garlic head with a slightly elongated neck, also known as a tiger-claw bottle. The red glaze on the bottle is crystal clear and vibrant, resembling the crimson of fresh coagulated blood, aptly termed "ox blood red." It possesses a strong luster, dazzling and radiant. Another feature of Langyao Red is its high fluidity, allowing the glaze to flow and drip. The dripping sections are particularly deep in color and glaze thickness, yet they abruptly stop around the base, cut neatly like a knife, never flowing further. The red glaze flows down the lower body of the bottle, where the glaze accumulates deeply. Although the entire bottle is monochromatic, the glaze surface exhibits rich variations, with subtle cracks resembling ice patterns.
At the rim of the bottle, the flowing glaze reveals the pale white or light green of the body, creating a striking contrast with the vibrant red of the main body, forming the unique style of Langyao Red, often referred to as the "lamp grass mouth." Hence, Langyao Red is known as "flowing without dripping at the base." The inner wall of the bottle is glazed with white porcelain, which is pure and silver-like, offering a vivid contrast with the crimson exterior. Additionally, the bamboo tool marks left during production on the inner wall are clear and forceful, varying in width and appearing somewhat rough yet natural.
The base of the bottle is thick and unglazed, without any markings. The flat surface is slightly concave, with concentric circular marks from the spinning process, centered on the base. The rotation marks are distinct and forceful, with varying sizes of concentric circles, indicating that the spinning speed was not too fast during production. The base is also unglazed, revealing the pure and fine porcelain body, which feels heavy to the touch. In the small cracks of the body, the porcelain shines brightly in sunlight, known as "glutinous rice body."
In summary, the