More ‘bloody’ ox stuff …

In China, the ‘ox’ is not just prominent as a working, mythological, zodiac or artistic animal, it also lends its name to a deep red colour of ceramic glaze – ox-blood or sang-de-boeuf glaze. This lustrous flambé glaze is among the most distinctive and elusive of all high fire ceramic glazes.

Monochrome porcelain with beautifully controlled thick glazes was a specialty of the Song dynasty (960-1279). In this period, aesthetics emphasised simplicity  and subtlety and colours were often muted – white, black or green celadons.

Red glazes in China were developed over several hundred years with some of the most celebrated examples dating to the early 15^th century when potters of the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) produced wares for use in imperial rites. During this period monochrome porcelains replaced other materials for the ritual vessels used in the official sacrifices by the emperor. In the ‘Collected Statutes of the Ming Dynasty’ particular colours were associated with a specific direction and ritual: yellow for the Earth, blue for Heaven, white for the Moon, and red for the Sun. The ‘sarificial red’ glaze from the Xuande reign (1426-35) was especially famous.

The technique of producing red glazes was apparently lost in the 16^th century due to the slowdown in porcelain production as a result of the ensuing war-torn years. However, it was revived two hundred years later, during the early 18^th century Kangxi reign (1662-1722), when Jingdezhen potters were commissioned by the court to develop replicas of classical glazes. These were perfected during the Qianlong period (1736-96) where the glazes were extraordinarily glossy and far more fluid than their predecessors.

The sang-de-boeuf glaze is derived from copper – a metal which is notoriously difficult to control under the heat of a kiln. The distinctive blood-red colour is created when copper is starved of oxygen during the firing in the smoky, oxygen-depleted kiln, and re-oxidised during cooling. The resulting glaze varies in colour and opacity. According to Suzanne Valenstein in ‘A Handbook of Chinese Ceramics’, Metropolitan Museum of Art (1998): ‘this spectacular glaze gives the impression that one is gazing through a limpid surface layer, which is slightly crazed and strewn with countless fine bubbles, to the colour that lies underneath’.

The glazed surface usually starts with a greenish grey tone at the top of a vessel and, as it descends, quickly turns red in shades that range from light red, with tints of green, to deep crimson or even dark reddish brown. Generally. the glaze is only applied to the external surface, with the inside and rim left with a clear glaze. The unpredictability of the process resulted in many glaze effects which appealed to contemporary Chinese aesthetics. Porcelain objects where the glaze stops above the foot are considered to be hallmarks of genuine Kangxi potters.

The examples in the collection of the National Gallery of Victoria come from the Kangxi, Yongzhen (1723-1735) and Qianlong  (1736-95) periods. The simplicity of forms refers to shapes established by potters of the Tang dynasty (618-906) and Song dynasty.

Sang-de-boeuf ceramics were greatly admired around the world and many European, British and American potters pursued the challenge of recreating this coveted glaze. In the late 19^th century France, Sèvres porcelain and Haviland & Co. (Limoges) both produced versions of sang-de-boeuf porcelain – as did Chelsea Keramic Art Works in Massachusetts and Ruskin Pottery in England.

Bernard Moore (1850-1935) was an English potter and ceramic chemist who was particularly interested in flambé glazes and pottery with reduced lustre pigments. In the 1880s and 1890s, Moore experimented with, and perfected, ‘difficult’ glazes using metallic oxides (principally copper or iron) in high temperatures (up to 1500˚ C) and reduced oxygen environments. This produced extraordinary examples of purple, blue, lilac, green and red glazes which received many awards. The NGV has a beautiful example of one of Moore’s ox-blood lidded jars.

Australia also had potters who took on the ‘sang-de-boeuf challenge’. Welsh-born Ann Geroe (1934-2015) attended pottery classes while doing a double major in philosophy at the University of Melbourne in the early 1970s. Already interested in Southern Song dynasty ceramics and Qing dynasty mononchrome ware, she set out to recreate the celadon, imperial yellow and red glazes in her home studio in Castlemaine. In 2014, a survey exhibition of her work was held at the Castlemaine Art Gallery to coincide with her 80^th birthday.

Christopher Sanders (1952-), the son of potter Tom Sanders, is regarded as one of Australia’s master potters. Initially studying earthenware, commercial glazes and electric kiln firing with his father, a study trip to America, Britain and Europe in 1979, inspired Sanders to learn more about reduction glaze techniques and alternative firing processes. In the 1980s and 1990s while completing an honours degree in history as Latrobe University and a Masters Degree by Research (Ceramics) at RMIT, he produced a series of jars and vases inspired by oriental shapes, richly surfaced with copper red and chun glazes. After a career teaching at RMIT and in Hong Kong, Sanders currently specialises in photo-documentation of art, artists, installations and art media.

While ox-blood or sang-de-boeuf – a reference to the floor of a slaughterhouse is the common preferred name – the glaze is also described as ‘crushed strawberry’ for those with delicate sensibilities!