Priestley & Ferraro chinese art
E arly C hinese C eramics and W orks of A rt
E arly C hinese C eramics and W orks of A rt
P riestley & F erraro chinese art 3 Bury Street, St James’s London SW1Y 6AB tel: +44 (0) 20 7930 6228 email: gallery@priestleyandferraro.com www.priestleyandferraro.com
1 A SILVER-INLAID BRONZE ANNULAR DISC
Eastern Zhou dynasty (770-221 BC) or Qin dynasty (221-207 BC) Diameter: 8.5 cm, 3⅜ inches 東周或秦 錯銀青銅車飾 直徑 8.5 釐米
The disc, approximately the proportions of a jade huan, is of even width and flattened section, with a large central aperture. The surface is finely inlaid in silver sheet and wire with a continuous scrolling pattern of whorls and criss-crossing straps. The bronze surface is patinated to a deep reddish-brown colour. Provenance: Rosebery’s, 11th November 2020, lot 25 Van Daalen Collection Ben Janssens, 2013 Private German Collection Published: Ben Janssens Oriental Art, 2013, p. 14
For a pair of very similar, though slightly larger, silver inlaid bronze rings, dated to the Qin dynasty, found in Daibaiyang Village, Weiyang district, Xi’an in 1967, see 西安文物精华编委会 名单金银器 “Quintessence of Xi’an Cultural Relics - Gold and
Silver Wares”, no. 13, p. 12. For a reconstructed Han dynasty chariot, but with the original bronze fittings that were excavated from the Huoqubing Tomb in Maoling, Shaanxi, see Imperial China. The Art of the Horse in Chinese History, no. 111, p. 130, where a number of gold inlaid bronze rings are set along the horizontal drawbar. The lower halves of these rings, however, are undecorated where they are set into the drawbar, suggesting that the present ring, and the pair mentioned above, which are all fully decorated, may have had a different, though perhaps related, function.
2 AN AGATE SCABBARD SLIDE (ZHI )
Western Han dynasty (206 BC-AD 9) Length: 6.6 cm, 2 ⅝ inches 西漢 瑪瑙劍璏 長 6.6 釐米
The slide is of rectangular form with a slightly curved upper surface flanked by raised ridges and with flat sides. The ends of the slide have hooked ‘eaves’ (zhiyan 璏檐)and the underside has an elongated rectangular aperture (qiong 銎). The stone is well polished with concentric banding in tones of milky white, grey and brown.
Scabbard slides of this construction were part of the standard fittings of a sword scabbard from the Warring States period through to the early post-Han period, and enabled the scabbard to be slung from the waist by means of cords or a strap passing through the aperture on the reverse. More typically of jade, slides made of agate, like the present fine example, grew in popularity from the Western Han period. For a red and white agate scabbard slide dated to the Han dynasty, excavated in 2002 from a tomb in the Haizhou area of Lianyungang, see the example in the Lianyungang City Museum. There is a difference of opinion concerning the correct pronunciation of the character meaning ‘scabbard slide’, some preferring ‘wei’, but the earliest sources attest ‘zhi’, as given here. It seems that the alternative version only appeared in the Song dynasty.
3 A SET OF THREE POTTERY FIGURES OF MUSICIANS
Han dynasty (206 BC - AD 220) Heights: 29.5 cm, 20 cm and 19.5 cm; 11⅝ inches, 7 ⅞ inches and 7 ⅝ inches 漢 彩繪陶跪姿俑兩件立俑一件 高 29.5, 20, 19.5 釐米
The standing figure is finely modelled, dressed in a white shenyi robe, with the hands held in front within capacious pleated folds of red and white, above the long flared skirt with pink pantaloons showing at the feet. One kneeling figure, similarly dressed to the standing figure, plays an ocarina, while the second kneeling figure has arms held out within narrower sleeves, as if playing a qin. The faces of all three figures are of triangular shape, detailed with eyes and eyebrows, with remains of pink pigment for the complexion, and with the black-painted hair drawn up on each side.
It is rare to find such finely modelled small scale pottery figures from this period. Representing members of the retinue of a deceased prince or noble, they would have served and entertained the deceased in the afterlife.
4 A PAINTED POTTERY FIGURE OF AN OX
Northern Wei dynasty (386-535) Length: 21.5 cm, 8 ½ inches 北魏 彩繪陶牛 長 21.5 釐米
The ox is naturalistically modelled standing square and facing forwards. The head is fitted with a halter, with two larges bosses on each cheek and two more on the nose strap, all beneath the high pointed horns. The body is applied overall with a dark reddish-brown pigment, flaking in places to show the fine-grained grey ware.
For a similar pottery figure of an ox, dated to the Northern Wei, see The Communion of Scholars. Chinese Art at Yale, no. 17, p. 51, where the authors discuss the rich symbolism of the ox, as animal of the zodiac, as representing the beginning of spring, and as associated with the value of agriculture.
5 A RARE SET OF SIX POTTERY FIGURES OF FEMALE MUSICIANS Northern Wei dynasty (386-535) Heights: approx. 19 cm, 7 ½ inches 北魏 彩繪陶伎樂女俑六件 高 19 釐米
The figures are well modelled from a light orange-buff coloured clay. Each represents a seated or kneeling female musician. The faces of all the figures are similarly fashioned, with broad narrow eyes, a roughly triangular nose, and slight smile on the protruding lips. The styles of coiffure, too, are similar, with the hair either drawn up into a series of looped cross-shaped knots, or into a single looped knot on the top of the head, with braids sweeping around the sides. Each figure wears a robe with lapels crossing at the chest, and with piecrust-like frills running over the shoulders, around the elbows, and around the circumference of the trailing skirt. The figures are each depicted playing a different instrument, comprising an ocarina, a vertical flute, panpipes, a zither, a pipa and a tambourine.
During the centuries following the fall of the Eastern Han dynasty, the north of China was governed by a non-Han people called the Xianbei, whose dynasty was called the Northern Wei. Aristocrats of the time maintained large retinues, and this orchestra of ladies would almost certainly have been of this type, attached to a rich household. The physiognomy of the figures is distinctive, and resembles fairly closely that found on figures of the Sixteen Kingdoms period, such as the standing warrior sold by Priestley & Ferraro, illustrated in Out of Wind and Dust, cat. no. 3. This suggests a date for the present set of figures fairly early in the Northern Wei period. For a set of larger musicians excavated in 2001 from a tomb in Pingling Town, Qindu District and dated to the Early Northern Dynasties (386-581), see 咸阳文物精华 “The Cream of Xianyang Relics”, p. 82.
6 A GLAZED WHITE STONEWARE CUP
Sui dynasty (581-618), 6th /7th century Diameter: 12.8 cm, 5 inches 隋 白釉深腹杯 直徑 12.8 釐米
The cup is of deep bell shape, with steep sides flared very slightly towards the rim, supported on a low solid splayed foot. A clear crackled glaze applied over a slip covers the interior and exterior, pooling low down on the sides to a pale straw colour. The flat base reveals the fine-grained white ware. Provenance: Poly Auction Hong Kong, 2nd October 2018, lot 3010 The Collection of Shu Zheng Zhai A Japanese Private Collection
This elegant form of cup represented the standard of the time, and versions of it were made at kilns in several locations in China, most famously at the Xing kilns in Hebei and the Gongyi kilns in Henan, but also at the Ding kilns in Hebei. Differentiation is difficult and depends on small points of detail. The splayed foot with tiny chamfer to the edge is a characteristic of the wares of both the Xing and Gongyi kilns, but not the Ding kilns, suggesting an attribution in the present case to one of the first two kilns mentioned. For a pair of similar cups, attributed to the Xing or Gongxian kilns, see J.J. Lally, Early Chinese White Wares, The Ronald W. Longsdorf Collection, 2015, catalogue no. 3, where it is noted that it is rare to find this type of cup in such a large size.
7 A BLUE AND SANCAI -GLAZED POTTERY FIGURE OF A LOKAPALA Tang dynasty (618-906), 8th century Height: 25 cm, 9 ⅞ inches 唐, 八世紀 三彩加藍天王俑 高 25 釐米
The figure is well modelled trampling on a demon atop low flat-topped rockwork. He wears characteristic ‘cord and plaque’ armour with twin breast plates, secured with a cord, and a sash about the waist. One arm is raised triumphantly, the other is placed on the hip. The demon, with hair standing on end and eyes bulging, is squashed beneath the lokapala’s greaved and booted feet. The figures and the top of the rockwork are applied with a rich sancai glaze with liberal extra use of blue, leaving the head, with expressive features and hair drawn up into a topknot, unglazed but with some cold pigment in red and black to highlight the lips and brows.
It is rare to find a sancai-glazed figure of a lokapala of these small proportions made to such a high standard, both in the modelling and glaze application. A full-size version, showing the same iconography and also with the addition of blue to the standard sancai palette, excavated in 1959 from Zhongbu village in the suburbs of Xi’an, is in the collection of the Shaanxi History Museum.
8 A SANCAI -GLAZED POTTERY FIGURE OF A HORSE WITH LONG COMBED MANE Tang dynasty (618-906) Height: 49 cm, 19 ¼ inches 唐 三彩長梳鬃馬 高 49 釐米
The horse is naturalistically modelled standing square on a rectangular base. The small amber-glazed head is turned to the near side and held at an angle, wearing a bridle set with large tasselled cheek pieces and with further tassels to the nose and forehead. The long straw glazed mane, extending from the pricked ears to the front of the saddle is combed to the near side. The saddle, unglazed and with traces of orange pigment, is secured by the breast strap and breech strap, both suspended with further large tassels in mixed straw and green glazes. The body and legs are amber glazed and the bound tail is straw-glazed. The unglazed areas revealed on the saddle and base are a fine-grained light pinkish buff colour.
Long combed manes on Tang sancai horses are usually reserved for the magnificent large-scale models of horses associated with imperial tombs and it is rare to find a smaller sancai horse, as here, with such a fine mane. For a comparable horse, but with a hogged mane, modelled in the same stance, with the same colour of coat and also with a painted saddle and saddlecloth, see Jiurutang Collection, no. 69, p. 103.
9 A WATER CALTROP-SHAPED FLORAL BRONZE MIRROR
Tang dynasty (618-906) Diameter: 10.3 cm, 4 inches 唐 寳相花紋菱花銅鏡 直徑 10.3 釐米
The mirror is finely cast in the shape of an eight-petalled caltrop flower, with raised rim. The central circular field is cast in relief with four stylized baoxiang flowers, within a band of alternating butterflies and simple berrried plants, all around the central domed boss pierced with an aperture from side to side. The silvery patina has small scattered areas of malachite and azurite encrustation. Provenance: Ben Janssens, 2007 Published: Ben Janssens Oriental Art 2007, p. 38
The water caltrop (Trapa japonica) or water chestnut, has a delicate four-petalled bloom, but the name has long been used in China to describe the barbed and lobed shape of the present type of mirror. The midTang poet Yang Ling, for example, used the term in his poem Ming Fei Yuan (‘The Lament of Lady Ming”) to describe the mirror that Wang Zhaojun, or Lady Ming, carried with her when she was sent to marry Chanyu, chief of the Huns: 匣中縱有菱花鏡，羞對單于照舊顏
xia zhong zong you ling hua jing, xiu dui chan yu zhao jiu yan ‘Demurely facing Chanyu, the water caltrop-shaped mirror in its case still reflects her former self’.
10 A RARE WHITE MARBLE PILLOW
Tang dynasty (618-906) Dimensions: 21 x 14 x 8.5 cm, 8 ¼ x 5 ½ x 3 ⅜ inches
21
x
唐 漢白玉枕頭 14 x 8.5 釐米
The pillow is of upright form and trapezoidal section with a gently concave upper surface to form the head rest, tilted slightly from front to back. The fine-grained pure white stone is of Han baiyu type. Provenance: Property of a retired Asian art dealer
The characteristic planes and subtle curves of cuboidal pillows from the Tang dynasty are most familiar from pottery models, often applied with brightly coloured sancai glazes, that have survived in eighth century tombs. Stone examples, though much rarer, have also survived. The most famous of these is the remarkable rock crystal pillow found amongst the Tang dynasty treasures in the crypt beneath the Famensi pagoda located in present day Fufeng, Shaanxi. Although smaller in size, it shares the rather high proportions of the present marble example. The Famensi crystal pillow is illustrated in 法門寺考古發掘報告.下 “Report of Archaeological Excavation at Famen Temple, Vol. 2”, p. 232. It is interesting to note the similarity in colour between the very white Han baiyu marble of the present pillow, mined in Hebei province, and the rare examples of white stoneware pillows made at the Xingyao or Dingyao kilns, also in Hebei province. Perhaps, given potters’ predilection for copying other materials, they were inspired by marble pillows like the present example. For an example of a white stoneware pillow, see Priestley & Ferraro, Chinese White Wares in the First Millennium, 2010, no. 9. For a smaller Han baiyu marble pillow, described as a ‘pulse rest’, also dated to the Tang dynasty, see Ben Janssens Oriental Art 2013, p.50. The pillow bears a two character inscription to one end, reading gong yu, ‘for tribute to the Emperor’. Pillows in stones other than crystal and marble, have also been found, though they are often hard to date. For example, a jade pillow dated ‘Eastern Han to Tang dynasty’ was included in Christie’s Hong Kong sale, “The Gerald Godfrey Private Collection of Fine Chinese Jades”, 30th October 1995, lot 918.
11 A WHITE MARBLE TORSO OF A SADDLED HORSE
Tang dynasty (618-906) or Five Dynasties (907-960) Length: 40 cm, 15 ½ inches 唐或五代 石雕鞍馬軀幹 長 40 釐米
The torso is finely carved with an undecorated saddle with well rounded contours, set on a cloud-incised saddle-pad with two florette decorated straps, over mud-guards with further clouds. The breast-strap is set with florettes and suspended with a large tassel at the front and smaller ones to each side, while the breech-strap, also set with florettes, is suspended with bell-like ornaments. The flanks of the horse are smoothly polished. The stone is fine grained and uniformly white in colour. Provenance: Collection of Richard Nathanson (1947-2018)
It is rare to find a horse of these proportions carved in stone. A saddled stone horse, still complete with legs and head is in the Zhaoling Museum. It was excavated in 1971 from the tomb of Zheng Rentai (601-663), a Tang dynasty general important enough to be buried in the Zhaoling burial ground of the Taizong emperor (r.626-49). The horse is equipped with a military saddle, with detailed depiction of reins, bridle and associated straps and stands 52 cm high, comparable to the original height of the present horse. The Zheng Rentai stone horse was originally part of a group of five horses and four attendants, made in two kinds of stone, one limestone and one of a lighter colour. They were placed on a stone plinth within the tomb. For images and a description, see 新春赏宝～郑仁泰墓石雕战马 (https://weibo.com/ttarticle/p/show?id=2309404604870090162229). Larger horses, sometimes carved in marble, were often included in pairs as part of a “Spirit Road” leading to an important tomb. For a pair of grey and white marble horses’ heads from such horses, given a tentative dating to the Tang dynasty, and now in the Norton Museum, Palm Beach, see the Norton Museum collection catalogue, no. 70, p. 182. The authors make a link between the harness configuration seen on these heads and those seen on the ‘Six Chargers of the Emperor Taizong”, famously carved on stone panels and installed in the emperor’s tomb. Perhaps Zheng Rentai’s horses, five not six, of course, were inspired by his knowledge of these panels.
12 A RARE CARVED LIMESTONE MOCK DOOR
Tang Dynasty (618-906) Height: 52.1cm, 20 ½ inches 唐 石灰岩綫刻昆侖舞者假門石碑 高 52.1 釐米
The door is of broadly square form surmounted by an arched gable enclosing a semi-circular tympanum. The double doorway is recessed behind door posts and lintel, and is secured by a large lock carved in relief. Each leaf of the door is decorated in a distinctive style of incising and low-relief carving with a figure of a guardian in full elaborate armour. The door posts are decorated with winding flowers and the lintel has a pair of mandarin ducks and further flowers. Outside the door posts are uprights of curved section, also with floral decoration, extending down on each side to rectangular blocks carved on the front with mythical beasts, and supporting recumbent lions carved in the round. The uprights extend upwards to the arched gable, decorated with flowers and geometric elements, around the tympanum carved and incised with a scene of a dancer, perhaps Sogdian, with long sleeves aflutter on a lotus-shaped mat, flanked by two chubby Central Asian boys wearing jewelled bracelets and necklaces and headdresses. The stone itself is of grey colour, with some darker and lighter areas worked into the carved design. Provenance: Sotheby’s New York, 17th September 2003, lot 19 New York private collection
For a mock door of larger size but similar composition, with semicircular tympanum and two-leaf door, and carved in the same style, see the example in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession number 20.89; and for another related mock door in the Field Museum, Chicago, accession number 1114, see Osvald Siren, Chinese Sculpture, no.436. Mock doors like the present example and the two mentioned above, were carved in the form of end panels of sarcophagi, but set into the tomb wall. That they are not end panels detached from large sarcophagi is evident from their integral nature: sarcophagus end panels are divided between the tympanum and the door itself, corresponding to the gap between cover and base. Their function has not been elucidated in detail, but to judge from the symbolism of lively dancers, lotus blossom and mandarin ducks on the present example, they were intended as doorways to a paradise of joy and the continuation of connubial bliss.
13 A SANCAI-GLAZED SHELL-SHAPED POTTERY WATERPOT Tang dynasty (618-906) Length: 10.2 cm, 4 inches 唐 三彩海螺形水盂 長 10.2 釐米
The vessel is skilfully modelled in the form of a conch-like shell, with a large main aperture set on one side with a shallow spout. Between the main aperture and the whorled tip of the shell is a shelf with two smaller, circular holes. The interior is applied with a rich green glaze, while the shelf, the whorl and the exterior are applied with a rich amber glaze pooling to a deeper tone in the recesses of the form. Provenance: Bonhams New York, 21st July 2020, lot 125 New York private collection Priestley & Ferraro, June 2000 Christie’s London, 4th December 1995, lot 77
In addition to the more usual sancai-glazed figures, the potters of the Tang also produced a number of smaller sancai objects and vessels moulded in various unusual forms, for example a furled leaf or, as here, a large conch-like sea shell. The most likely interpretation is that these are pottery models of vessels or object types made of more ephemeral materials whose originals are now lost. Here a scholar’s vessel made from a conch shell, functioning as a waterpot-cum-brush holder, has been modelled in pottery. For another sancai-glazed shell-shaped cup of closely comparable shape and size but slightly different colouring, see Porcelaine. Chefs-d’oevre de la Collection Ise, pages 44 and 45.
14 A GREEN-GLAZED POTTERY LEAF-SHAPED WASHER
Tang dynasty (618-906) Length: 12.5 cm, 4 ⅞ inches 唐 淺綠釉陶葉形水盂 長 12.5 釐米
The washer is modelled in the form of a large leaf furled into a bowl shape, forming blunt spouts on each side and with numerous indentations and projections on the inturned rim. The underside is moulded in relief with intertwined veining and small boss-like elements. A lead glaze of light green colour covers the washer inside and out, pooling to a deeper tone around the irregular rim. Provenance: Private English collection
Often described as resembling a sea shell (compare no. 13 in this catalogue) washers like the present example are more likely to be models of a type of leaf, perhaps dried, that was used by Tang scholars as a makeshift brushwasher, the ephemeral nature of which would have appealed to their sensibility. Pottery models like the present one, like fossils, are all the evidence we have that such vessels existed. A sancai-glazed version excavated in Gongyi and in the collection of the Gongyi Museum was exhibited at the exhibition Three-color Ware of the Tang Dynasty. The Henan Province Discoveries and is illustrated in the catalogue produced by the Suntory Museum, no. 73, p. 102. For another example, see Early Chinese Ceramics from The Postan Collection, an exhibition held by Bluett & Sons in November 1972, item 2; and for one in the collection of the late Charles B. Hoyt with an amber glazed outside and green inside, see The Charles B. Hoyt Collection Memorial Exhibition, no. 100, p. 26.
15 AN AMBER-GLAZED MARBLED POTTERY TRIPOD DISH Tang dynasty (618-906) Diameter: 13.3 cm, 5 ¼ inches 唐 黃釉絞胎三足盤 直徑 13.3 釐米
The dish is of circular form with a wide rim with raised lip. The interior is decorated with sections of marbled clay set in a pale matrix, with a roughly hexagonal section in the centre surrounded by six trapezeshaped pieces, and a striped rim. The underside is similarly decorated and is set with three short rounded feet. An amber glaze is applied to the upper side of the dish, the underside of the rim, and around the bases of the three feet. Provenance: Rosebery’s, 11th November 2020, lot 25 Van Daalen collection Ben Janssens, 2003
Tang dynasty marbled wares, known generically in Chinese as jiaotai, (‘mixed clay-body’) are a composite of several different techniques. In one type, clays of two colours mixed together by repeated folding are pressed into moulds to form complete wares, resulting in marbling that penetrates the thickness of the body. A second type uses slices of mixed clays to ‘veneer’ the bodies of wares which are otherwise of a single colour of clay. The present dish represents an unusual third type, where sections penetrating the body of the dish are embedded within a matrix of unmixed clay. For an example of a tripod dish made using the marbled ‘veneer’ technique, see Mayuyama & Co., Ltd.’s 2017 exhibition, An Exhibition of the Arts of The Tang Dynasty, no. 84; and for a pair of dishes made using the same embedded marbling technique as the present dish, see China Guardian (HK) Auction, spring 2019, lot 1445.
16 A BLACK AND WHITE STAR PATTERN DISH
Tang dynasty (618-906) Diameter: 16.3 cm, 6 ½ inches 唐 素胎黑花盤 直徑 16.3 釐米
The dish is of circular form decorated over a lightly slipped body with a star pattern formed by five ‘U’-shaped areas of glossy dark brown glaze extending from the rim. The underside is similarly decorated, with broader areas of glaze forming a roughly pentagonal pattern centred on the low flared knife-pared foot. The body material, visible around the foot and in the centre of the interior is of characteristic flecked grey colour.
The most famous kilns to make dishes of this striking type were the Yaozhou kilns in Shaanxi, best known for their Song dynasty celadons, but they were not alone. For an example from the Dengfeng kilns, see 中国登封窑 “Dengfeng Kiln of China”, p. 043. In the absence of definite parallels, it is difficult to make an attribution as to kiln, however the body material of the present dish appears to be close to Yaozhou wares of the period.
17 A XINGYAO GREEN AND STRAW GLAZED SMALL JAR
Tang dynasty (618-906) Height: 7.6 cm, 3 inches 唐 邢窯綠白釉小罐 高 7.6 釐米
The jar is of small proportions and finely potted, with a generous high shouldered body supporting a low rolled rim encircling the wide mouth. The inside of the mouth and the exterior of the body are applied with a splashed glaze in two tones of green, one more blue-tinted, one more olive, and a very pale straw-coloured glaze. The darker green glaze extends over the flat base of the jar, punctuated by three evenly spaced spur marks.
Although best known for fine white stoneware, the Xing kilns produced a small quantity of coloured wares, in a bright yellow, green or – as here – mixed green and straw-coloured glazes. A characteristic of these wares is that they are fired on spurs to allow the coloured glaze to cover the vessel more fully. For a discussion of Xingyao wares with coloured glazes, see KY Ng’s catalogue for Asia Week HK 2013, 邢窯勝雪, Like Snow, Like Silver.
18 A BLACK-GLAZED STONEWARE EWER
Tang dynasty (618-906), 8th or 9th century Height: 20 cm, 7 ⅞ inches 唐, 八至九世紀 黑釉瓷執壺 高 20 釐米
The ewer is stoutly potted with a shouldered ovoid body supporting a very low broad neck with everted rim. One shoulder is set with a stubby upright spout and the other, linking it to the neck, is set with a loop handle bearing a leaf-like tab. The exterior is applied with a thick, glossy dark glaze falling short of the base to reveal the light grey-buff ware and flat-bottomed foot. Provenance: Capelo Collection Published: Francisco Capelo, Forms of Pleasure, no. 22, pl 72 Priestley & Ferraro, Song Ceramics & Works of Art, November 2013, no. 1
For two related black-glazed ewers see T’ang Pottery and Porcelain, where an example in the collection of the British Museum is illustrated, p. 73, no.64, and another from the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, no. 65. The sturdy shouldered form of the present ewer, clearly based on the typical high Tang wannian guan (‘ten thousand year jar’), suggests a date sometime in the latter part of the eighth century.
19 A YAOZHOU BLACK-GLAZED STONEWARE LOBED EWER
Tang dynasty (618-906), 9th century Height: 22.2 cm, 8 ¾ inches 唐,九世紀 耀州窯黑釉瓜棱形執壺 高 22.2 釐米
The ewer is well potted with a tall melon-shaped upper body tapering to a splayed foot and supporting a widely flared mouth linked by a strap handle to the shoulders on one side, opposite a short upright spout. A rich black glaze is applied to the inside of the mouth and to the exterior of the whole ewer, falling short of the base to reveal the fine-grained high-fired ware.
Although becoming the major producer of fine green-glazed stoneware in the north of China during the Song dynasty, the Yaozhou potters in the Tang dynasty made mostly black, black and white, and tea-dust glaze wares. In this phase of their production the kilns are often referred to as the Huangpu kilns. The present ewer is a fine example of their best production. A closely comparable example, but with a dark ‘tea-dust’ glaze, excavated in 1991 from the Yaozhou kiln site at Huangpu village, Tongchuan city, Shaanxi and now in the Yaozhou Ware Museum is illustrated in The Masterpieces of Yaozhou Ware, no. 124, p. 96. Two similar ewers are illustrated in 唐代黄堡窑址下朋 “Excavation of a Tang kiln-site at Huangpu in Tongchuan Shaanxi”, nos 2 and 3 on p. 56 (LVI).
20 A XINGYAO WHITE-GLAZED STONEWARE SHALLOW BOWL
10th century Diameter: 15.3 cm, 6 inches 十世纪 邢窑白釉玉璧底淺盌 直徑 15.3 釐米
The bowl is of well potted shallow rounded form rising evenly to the slightly rolled rim, supported on a very low broad footrim of form resembling a jade disc (yubi). A bright clear glaze is applied overall apart from on the underside of the base, revealing the fine-grained white ware. Provenance: Sotheby’s London, 9th November 2018, lot 270 A Far Eastern private collection
The footrims of bowls of this type, of very characteristic broad ring shape, are transitional in development between the typical flat foot of the early to mid-Tang period and the narrow footrim of the Five Dynasties and Song period. The Chinese name for this type of bowl, ‘yubidi wan’, literally ‘jade bi-disc base bowl’, draws attention to this distinctive feature. For a bowl of this type in the Percival David Collection at the British Museum, see Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art. A Guide to the Collection, no. 19, p. 37, ref. PDFA107.; and for an example excavated in 2006 in Huai’an city and now in the Chuzhou Museum, see 中國出土 瓷器全集. 7 江苏上海 “The Complete Collection
of Ceramic Art Unearthed in China. 7. Jiangsu, Shanghai”, no. 79, p.79.
21 A YAOZHOU PERSIMMON-GLAZED CONICAL BOWL Northern Song dynasty (960-1127) Diameter: 11 cm, 4 ¼ inches 北宋 耀州窯醬釉撇口盞 直徑 11 釐米
The bowl is of conical form flaring slightly towards the rim, supported on a low knife-pared footrim. A rich persimmon-coloured glaze is applied inside and out except on the base, revealing the finegrained grey ware burnt to a light brown colour in the firing.
For a slightly larger persimmon-glazed Yaozhou bowl, see Song Ceramics from the Van Hulten Collection, p. 22-23. For another example, also slightly larger, in the collection of the Palace Museum, see 故宫博物馆院藏北京山东陕 西宁夏辽宁 “The Specimens of Ancient Chinese Kilns in
the Collection of the Palace Museum. Beijing, Shandong, Ningxi and Liaoning Volume”, no. 189, pp. 226.
22 A DENGFENG TIGER PATTERN FISH-ROE GROUND PILLOW
Northern Song dynasty (960-1279) Length: 25 cm, 9 ¾ inches 北宋 登封窯珍珠地劃虎紋枕 長 25 釐米
The pillow is of bean-shaped section with almost vertical sides. The upper surface is slightly concave and angled forwards, vigorously carved through a coating of white slip to the grey ground beneath with a powerful tiger striding over rocks. The face of the beast is slightly lowered and turned, framed by a short mane and with tab-like ears. The stripes of the body are executed in paired strokes, with small spots lining the rear edge of the legs and the underside of the long sinuous tail. Small texture spots, applied with the points of a comb, fill the background of the coat. Rocks with simple combed decoration mark the ground, and in the sky is a single cloud with a frilled head and long tail. The space around the tiger is filled with a dense “fish-roe” pattern. The sides are incised with loose petalled peonies. There is an airhole in the centre of the back. The base is unglazed.
Tiger-shaped pillows are found in some numbers among the Cizhou family of wares, but it is rare to find a tiger as the principal decoration rather than the form. It is especially rare to find a tiger as principal decoration on a ‘fish-roe’-ground type of pillow, though for a rectangular example of such a pillow, see 清雅集古珍藏古代瓷枕 “Origin of Dreams. Qing Ya Ji Gu Ceramic Pillows Collection”, no. 22, pp. 96-97. Slightly more common are tigers depicted in painted designs on black and white pillows. For an example of a pillow with a painted tiger, see Sung Ceramic Designs, Pl.47e with discussion on p. 101. Designs on Dengfeng pillows and other wares appear to have been prepared using some kind of stencil. The technique can clearly be seen on the present pillow, where the eyes of the tiger have been pricked through to mark the starting point of the design.
23 A JIZHOU ‘TORTOISESHELL’-GLAZED FLOWER-SHAPED TEA BOWL Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279) Diameter: 12.2 cm, 4 ¾ inches 南宋 吉州玳瑁釉花口盌 直徑 12.2 釐米
The bowl is skilfully fashioned in the form of a morningglory-like flower, with six lobes divided by cusps, supported on a low slightly splayed circular footrim. A bright ‘tortoiseshell’ glaze of mottled brown, amber and milkywhite is applied inside and out, stopping at a shelf above to reveal the fleckled greyish ware of the unglazed base. Provenance: Private Japanese Collection
For a Jizhou bowl of similar form to the present example, but with five rather than six petals, see 宋元时代的吉州窑瓷器 “Jizhou Kiln Porcelain in the Song and Yuan Dynasties”, no. 7, p. 15. For another five-lobed Jizhou ‘tortoiseshell’-glazed bowl of the same size but of rather different construction, see Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art. A Guide to the Collection, no. 38, p. 53. A black-glazed example, with nine lobes, was excavated in 1975 from the Jizhou kiln itself, and is now in the Jiangxi Museum, illustrated in 中國出土瓷器全集. 14 江西 The Complete Collection of Ceramic Art Unearthed in China. 14 Jiangxi no. 46, p. 46.
24 A CIZHOU-TYPE WHITERIBBED BLACK-GLAZED JAR
Jin dynasty (1115-1234) Height: 11.7 cm, 4 ⅝ inches 金 磁州窯系黑釉白條紋雙耳罐 高 11.7 釐米
The jar is of well potted ovoid form with a wide mouth with rolled lip. The sides are decorated with triplets of sharply ridged white ribs, set against the dark brown ground. The handles, shaped like tabbed loops, link the shoulders to the short, slightly tapered neck. The glaze falls short of the base, to reveal the fine light-coloured body. Provenance: Phillips London, 13th June 2001, lot 149
The striking decoration on jars of this type may be derived from the patterns of cords used to tie on a cover or bung. Alternatively, though perhaps less likely, the arrangement of ribs may have helped prevent slippage of actual cords used to tie on a cover. For a discussion of the kilns producing ribbed jars of this kind, see Robert D. Mowry, Hare’s Fur, Tortoiseshell and Partridge Feathers, pp. 182-183. For two further examples of blackglazed, handled jars decorated with triplets of white vertical ribs, see the Illustrated Catalogues of Tokyo National Museum. Chinese Ceramics I, nos. 625 and 626, p. 156.
25 A ‘GREEN JUN’ LARGE BOWL
Jin dynasty (1115-1234) Diameter: 22.7 cm, 9 inches 金 鈞窯豆青釉大盌 直徑 22.7 釐米
The bowl is of stoutly potted well rounded form with sides curving almost vertically at the rim, supported on a low splayed footrim. A green glaze of bluish tint, suffused with a large crackle and with some streaks of richer coloured pooling, covers the bowl inside and out, including the underside of the base, leaving only the footrim unglazed, revealing the pale grey ware burnt orange where it meets the glaze. Provenance: Bonhams London, 5th November 2020, lot 19 Sotheby’s London, 13 December 1988, lot 115 A European private collection
Jun wares typically fired to a bluish tone, employing optical properties in the glaze to achieve the colour. The presence of a distinct group of Jun wares, like the present example, deliberately fired to a green colour to compete for the celadon market with Yaozhou wares and Longquan wares, suggests that the chemical differences between the blue and the green glazes was well understood by the Jun potters. For an example of a bowl described as ‘green Jun’ in the collection of the V&A museum, see Song Dynasty Ceramics, no. 6 and 6a, p. 15, and for a slightly smaller green Junyao bowl, previously in the collection of Hans Popper, see Song Ceramics from the Van Hulten Collection, p. 48-49. Several examples of comparable bowls excavated from the Juntai kiln site at Yuzhou are illustrated in 禹州钧台窰 “Juntai Kilns in Yuzhou”, p. 102.
26 A LONGQUAN CELADON JAR (GUAN )
Early Ming dynasty (1368-1644), 14th/15th century Height: 17.8 cm, 7 inches 明早期，十四至十五世紀 龍泉窯青瓷罐 高 17.8 釐米
The jar is of stoutly potted compressed baluster form, with broad rounded shoulders supporting a short upright neck with lipped rim. A rich bubbled sea-green glaze is applied overall, leaving only the footrim of the slightly splayed foot unglazed, showing the fine-grained grey ware burnt orange in the firing. Provenance: Kaikodo, 2012
For a jar of similar size and shape dated to the Yongle period and described as ‘official ware’, see the catalogue of the special exhibition: 明代龍泉窯青磁大窯楓洞岩窯址発 掘成果展 “The Flower of Jade Green - Longquan Celadon
of the Ming Dynasty. Recent Archaeological Findings of the Dayao Fengdongyan Kiln Site”, no. 22, p. 061.
27 A VERY LARGE LONGQUAN CELADON BOWL
Ming dynasty, 15th century Diameter: 36.5 cm, 14 ⅜ inches 明,十五世紀 龍泉窯青瓷大盌 直徑 36.5 釐米
The bowl is superbly potted with stout well rounded sides springing from a low foot with tapered footrim. A thickly applied rich celadon glaze covers the bowl inside and out, pooling occasionally in more blue-tinted streaks. The glaze continues over most of the footrim and also covers the centre of the base, leaving a broad unglazed ring as the kiln support, burnt red in the firing. Provenance: From the collection of the Idemitsu Museum of Arts, Tokyo Literature: Idemitsu Museum of Arts, Chinese Ceramics in the Idemitsu Collection, Tokyo, 1987, p. 331, pl. 600
Celadon wares of the type and quality of the present bowl are now considered to be offical ware. An entry in the Da Ming Huidian (‘Collected Statutes of the Ming dynasty’) describes imperial wares being fired in 1393 at the ‘Rao kilns’ (now called Jingdezhen) and the ‘Chu kilns’. The ‘Chu kilns’, in the region formerly known as Chuzhou, correspond to the Longquan kilns. The precise location of the kilns making these wares has been identified as Dayao Fengdongyan, near Lishui in Zhejiang. To emphasize the imperial nature of this type of Longquan celadon ware, the term ‘Chuzhou’ ware is sometimes used. Large bowls or basins like the present example are rare. However, for two comparable large bowls, see 明代龍泉 窯青磁大窯楓洞岩窯址発掘成果展 “The Flower of Jade
Green - Longquan Celadon of the Ming Dynasty”. Recent Archaeological Findings of the Dayao Fengdongyan Kiln Site”, no.02, p. 038 and no. 03, p. 039.
28 AN UNUSUAL COROMANDEL LACQUER ‘BIRTHDAY BANQUET’ SCREEN Qing dynasty, Kangxi period (1662-1722) Dimensions: 292 x 47 cm, 115 x 18 ½ inches, each panel 清康熙 款彩十二扇祝壽圖屏風 每扇 292 x 47 釐米
The screen is composed of twelve narrow upright panels superbly carved in kuancai technique with bright colours on a glossy brown lacquer ground, with an overall scene of birthday celebrations. In the centre, in a pavilion above a flight of stone steps an immortal offers a large peach to a dignitary. To the right a group of riders approach the palace gates, carring a shuai banner, while within the grounds gift bearers and officials wait to offer their felicitations. To the left are the quarters of the palace ladies, with its own gate and bridge to the dignitary’s pavilion. Throughout the composition are finely detailed garden rocks, trees of different types and architectural features. The scene is framed by a broad border decorated with vignettes of flowers and antiques, within bands of floral and chain scrollwork, and set above large apertures with ruyi head decoration. The reverse is decorated with a long calligraphic inscription, partially erased, framed by vignettes of landscapes and birds, and with dragons galloping amid clouds on the side panels. Provenance: Christie’s New York, 20th October 2011, lot 564 The Estate of George McFadden and McFadden Brothers Partnership Acquired from Ariane Dandois, Paris, 1991
Magnificent large screens of this type have gone by many names in the West, with “Coromandel screen”, after the Coromandel coast in India, an important trading point between East and West, confusingly becoming the favourite. In fact, they were made at various centres in south-east China, and as we know from some – like the present screen – that have inscriptions, were intended as grand gifts, usually to celebrate the birthday or new appointment of venerable officials. Properly they should be described by the Chinese term, as kuancai screens, literally “cut out and coloured”. It is a rare feature of the present screen that the main pictorial panel is set above a row of large apertures with ruyi head decoration, lending an airiness to the screen as a whole.
S elected
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C hronology
Neolithic Period
circa 6500 - 1900 B.C.
Shang
circa 1500 - 1050 B.C.
Zhou Western Zhou Spring and Autumn Period Warring States Period Qin Han Western Han Eastern Han
1050 - 221 B.C. 1050 - 771 B.C. 770 - 475 B.C. 475 - 221 B.C. 221 - 207 B.C. 206 B.C. - A.D. 220 206 B.C. - A.D. 9 A.D. 25 - 220
Three Kingdoms Period Jin Western Jin Eastern Jin
221 - 280 265 - 420 265 - 316 317 - 420
Sixteen Kingdoms Period
304 - 439
Northern Dynasties Period Northern Wei Eastern Wei Western Wei Northern Qi Northern Zhou Southern Dynasties Period
386 - 581 386 - 535 534 - 550 535 - 557 550 - 577 557 - 581 420 - 589
Sui Tang Liao Five Dynasties Period Jin
581 - 618 618 - 906 907 - 1125 907 - 960 1115 - 1234
Song Northern Song Southern Song
960 -1279 960 -1127 1127 - 1279
Yuan Ming Qing
1279 - 1368 1368 -1644 1644 - 1911
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