A PEACHBLOOM-GLAZED ‘BEEHIVE’ WATERPOT, 19TH CENTURYChina. The domed body with short waisted neck and slightly everted rim, the exterior covered in a mottled raspberry glaze interspersed with green copper oxide splashes, a band of raspberry glaze around the inner rim, the interior and base covered in a white glaze.Provenance: From a noted private collection in Geneva, Switzerland, assembled since the 1960s, and thence by descent. An important part of this collection was on permanent loan and exhibited over several decades at the Asia-Africa Museum in Geneva. The base with three old labels, ‘Kang Shi F72.500 LC/3’, ‘AMA 4612/2’, and ‘Asia-Africa Museum Geneve’, and a lacquered inventory number, ‘[…]612’. The wood stand with two old labels, ‘AMA 2881/L/03 Kang-Shi’ and ‘AMA 4612/2’ to the top and three old labels, ‘AMA 2881 HC3 Kang-Shi’, ‘AMA 4612/2’ and ‘Lum Chai 28831’ to the underside. A copy of a handwritten entry in the inventory of the collection, describing the present waterpot, apanies this lot.Condition: Very good condition with minor wear and manufacturing flaws including pitting. The wood stand with minor wear.Weight: 360.0 g (excl. stand), 477.1 g (incl. stand)Dimensions: Diameter 10.7 cm (excl. stand), 11.5 cm (incl. stand)With a carved wood stand of circular form with four feet, dating from the same period. (2)The recessed base with an apocryphal underglaze-blue six-character markda Qing Kangxi nianzhi.The peachbloom glaze has been the focus of scientific research since the mid-20th century. Both the overall soft pinkish red of the glaze, and the areas of clear green which appear to a greater or lesser extent within it owe their hue to copper. Firing in a reducing atmosphere creates the red color, while re-oxidation creates the green. This was therefore a glaze that had to be applied very precisely and fired with great care. Research suggests that a copper-lime pigment was applied between two layers of colorless glaze. The copper-lime pigment was applied by blowing through a bamboo tube with fine silk gauze over the end to achieve an effect similar to modern spraying techniques. This allowed the thickness of the copper-lime layer to be adjusted so that some areas would be thicker than others. In those thicker areas, there was additional flux, which thinned the upper glaze layer and allowed the copper to re-oxidize and produce clear green. In the other areas, some of the pigment was undissolved making it appear slightly opaque and yet smooth on the surface, while the majority of the copper did dissolve and produced a rich pinkish red and creating one of the most highly esteemed glazes from the Qing imperial kilns.十九世紀豇豆紅釉水丞中國，圓唇，無頸，半球狀腹，圈足。通體施豇豆紅釉，口與圈足施白釉。