The vase, dating to the Kangxi period, is of tall elongated baluster form with cylindrical neck flaring gently at the mouth rim. The thinly waisted body rising from a widely splayed stepped foot to a broad rounded shoulder is covered with an exquisite and sumptuous rich raspberry transparent vitreous langyao glaze that has drained to the foot leaving the neck with just a hint of red exposing the grayed crackled glaze beneath, pooling around the neck and shoulder to a deep red and lightening as it rolls over the shoulder collecting at the foot in deepest raspberry hue and stopping, perfectly controlled, just above the stepped foot. The base is covered with a pale celadon hued crackle glaze, the craquelure stained yellow and brown, "golden thread and iron line". The foot-rim exhibiting the tight compact paste typical of the finest productions of the Lang kiln.
清代 Qing dynasty, 康熙 Kangxi Period (1662-1722)
Height:  21 3/4"  (55.25 cm)
Provenance:  Vermeer & Griggs Collection No. 2

Commentary:  It was nearly thirty-five years ago with the purchase of this vase that my love and appreciation for Chinese porcelain was cemented and to memorialize the event the vase became known as the "Vermeer Langyao Vase". The beauty of this vase, its elegant shape and form, the incredible depth of the transparent langyao glaze, captivated me and held me spellbound. To this day I have never seen its equal. It was the beginning of a quest to learn more and to understand the motivation behind the creation of such loveliness, and how it was accomplished. This single vase brought me into a world of human creativity I had never experienced, nor previously had appreciated and led to a lifelong (sometimes becoming obsessive) pursuit to acquire the finest of Chinese porcelain production. Together, with my partner and my mentor, Alan Griggs, we were privileged to acquire a great many pieces that eventually became the Vermeer & Griggs Collection.  M.V.