Le Musée Pouchkine à la Fondation Custodia.

Lot 102.  An extremely rare and important blue and white Middle-Eastern inspired stand, wudangzun, Ming dynasty, Yongle period (1403-1425); h. 17.2 cm, 6 3/4  in. Estimate: HK$20,000,000 — 30,000,000/ US$ 2,547,600 - 3,821,400. Courtesy Sotheby's. 

inspired by a Middle Eastern metal prototype, well potted with a hollow, waisted cylindrical body centred by a raised horizontal rib, flaring gently towards the top and bottom to an everted rim and foot, the exterior boldly painted in rich cobalt-blue tones with two horizontal bands, each with calligraphic Arabic script interlaced with meandering foliate scrollwork and two roundels enclosing a flower wreathed by a leafy meander, divided by a lappet band encircling the raised rib on the waist, all below stylised florets alternating with detached floral sprays on the underside of the rim, the decoration divided by double-line borders, the flat top of the rim and the foot painted with radiating lotus lappets, covered overall in a transparent bluish glaze save for an unglazed ring on the base revealing the buff-coloured body.

An Exotic Object at the Chinese Court
Regina Krahl

In the Qing dynasty (1644-1911), when the Yongle Emperor’s (r. 1403-1424) diplomatic missions to the Near and Middle East and to Africa were only distant episodes recorded in historic chronicles, a piece such as this must have seemed highly exotic at court. Clearly exhibiting all the cherished characteristics of Chinese porcelain from the early Ming period (1368-1644), but of intriguing shape and decoration, it was undoubtedly an object of wonder in the Qing imperial collection. It is not surprising that an astute observer such as the Qianlong Emperor (r. 1736-1795) was fascinated by what he called a ‘bottomless jar’ (wudangzun) and attributed to the Xuande period (1426-1435). He not only composed two poems about vessels of this type and had the porcelain copied by the imperial kilns, but the Zaobanchu records for the year Qianlong 36 (1771) state that he also commissioned a wooden stand to be made for such a piece, that in 1772 a zitan stand was submitted and he ordered it to be inscribed with one of his poems. The poem in question is probably the following (translated by Dr Richard John Lynn; fig. 1):

Song for a Xuande Ware Bottomless Jar

Second only to guan and Ru wares,
            it’s the Xuande and Chenghua that are praised,
For as age succeeded age,
            though the making became finer,
Just as skill involved for wheeled carriages
            gradually changed,
One may want to recover the start,
            but, alas, who ever can!
This piece basically emulates
            zun vessels and lei wine jars,
But why is it made without a bottom,
            impossible to hold water!
Now, don’t say this means
            We should be criticised,
As when Tang Xigong had the occasion
            to confront Marquis Zhao,
Who belittled a pottery goblet and
            so valued the glitter of a jade,
Whose liquid when poured leaked out,
            unable to hold it at all.
Then, he used the pottery one
            and just set the jade one aside.
That its three folds integrate nicely,
            does this surprise or not?
Though the porcelain is without a mark,
            We provide it with a title.
The copper lining held inside
            brings green malachite to life,
On the base of which “Xuande” is inscribed,
            for the lining is from the “Great Ming”.
Fitting together as do inner and outer garment,
            as close as elder and younger brother,
Though several hundred years have passed.
            these join well together.
Since it is treasured as a numinous object,
            trust that Our words are sincere:
Not only can it store water,
            it holds flowers as well,
So as the meaning of Our gentle words unravel,
            may they calm all the six emotions.

fig. 1. ‘On a Xuande bottomless vase’, Qing Gaozong yuzhi shiwen quan ji [Anthology of imperial Qianlong poems and prose], Yuzhi shi si ji [Imperial poems, vol. 4], juan 1, pp. 32-33.

Here, the Emperor alludes to a story in Han Feizi (Sayings of Master Han Fei), where Marquis Zhao, ruler of Han, 362-333 BC, is being asked ‘Now, here is a white jade goblet without a bottom, and a pottery goblet with a bottom. Which one, my Lord, will you use to drink?. . . . To be a ruler and yet let the good words of his ministers leak away is just like having a jade goblet that lacks a bottom’.

Again, according to the Zaobanchu records, in 1775, the Emperor asked for the cloisonné liner of a piece such as this to be replaced with a new one. His second poem may have been composed for this piece, since in it he relates that a Jingtai style (i.e. cloisonné) liner was used, since no Xuande bronze example could be found.

Later entries, from the Daoguang period (1820-1850), which refer to a blue-and-white wudangzun flower vessel with a zitanstand, or a wudangzun flower vessel with a copper liner and zitan stand, suggest that these pieces were actively used in the palace, not as stands but, fitted with liners, as flower vases.

When the Yongle Emperor sent massive fleets to ports all over Asia and as far as East Africa and also dispatched overland expeditions to the Middle East, to showcase China’s supremacy internationally, he distributed huge quantities of fine silks and porcelains to foreign lands. Of course, the exchange was not one-sided, as the court received foreign goods in return, and Chinese craftsmen came in contact with foreign styles and tastes. The imperial kilns at Jingdezhen, which were under complete court control and produced only to imperial order, created many new styles, among them a series of vessels in the shapes of Persian, Syrian or Egyptian metal prototypes, such as the present stand. Curiously, however, the majority of these vessels never seem to have reached any foreign destination: of the six known companion pieces to this stand, only one can be traced to Syria, while the other five are preserved in China.

Among this famous group of early Ming porcelains in foreign metal shapes, stands such as the present piece are among the rarest. That they are so well known is not due to a large number of extant examples, but probably because they are so memorable. It is not only the shape that is unique; it is also highly unusual to find Arabic inscriptions on porcelains of this period, and even the supporting borders chosen to accompany them are very special.

Metal stands of this form were made under Mamluk rule in Egypt or Syria, particularly in the first half of the fourteenth century. Generally considerably larger, they were used to support trays. They tend to be made of brass and are inlaid in gold and silver with bands of Arabic writing embedded in thin abstract scrollwork and interspersed with formal roundels. On the metal versions, the decoration tends to completely fill the surface, with no space left blank. On one example, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (fig. 2), the roundels show similar scrollwork as the porcelain version, but they are aligned on the two bands; on other stands, such as one illustrated in James W. Allan, Islamic Metalwork: the Nuhad Es-Said Collection, London, rev.ed. 1999 (1982), pl. 19, the roundels are filled with inscriptions, but are spaced at a 90 degree angle, as they are on the present piece. 

fig. 2. Silver-inlaid brass tray stand, attributed to Egypt, 14th century Edward C. Moore Collection, Bequest of Edward C. Moore, 1891 Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum, New York, accession no. 91.1.528.

While Middle Eastern shapes were reproduced in some number in the Yongle period, Persian or Arabic inscriptions are rare on early Ming imperial porcelain. The inscriptions on the Mamluk metal stands relate the names or titles of high-ranking dignitaries or rulers, probably the stands’ owners, and eulogies on their virtues. On the porcelain versions, the inscriptions are no longer legible, but it is exceptional that they are copying texts of a secular nature rather than Islamic incantations, as the much more frequent Arabic inscriptions on later porcelains, particularly those of the Zhengde (1506-1521) period. Possibly the only other Yongle design with Arabic writing are small mantouxin bowls, which do not seem to copy metal vessels, and which show illegible bands of Arabic around the rim. Two such bowls were included in the exhibition Shi yu xin: Mingdai Yongle huangdi de ciqi/Pleasingly Pure and Lustrous: Porcelains from the Yongle Reign (1403-1424) of the Ming Dynasty, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 2017, pp. 148-9; another from the Edward T. Chow, T.Y. Chao and S.C. Ko collections, was published in Chinese Porcelain. The S.C. Ko Tianminlou Collection, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1987, pl. 17, and sold twice in these rooms, 25th November 1980, lot 4, and 18th November 1986, lot 41.

Of the supporting designs, particularly the cobalt-rich borders on the upper and lower rims of these stands are noteworthy. They are formed of slender loop motifs with a fine, toothed border around the inner edge, creating very delicate white reserves that evoke openwork. They were clearly challenging to render with a brush and may also have been inspired by Arab design. The slanting mirrored petal-panel border around the centre is also unusual, while the small floral sprigs under the rim are rare, but appear similarly under the everted rims of basins in the shape of Mamluk metal prototypes, such as the examples in the National Palace Museum illustrated in Shi yu xin., op.cit., pp. 129-135.

Six other stands of the present design appear to be recorded, all today in museum collections: A stand in the Palace Museum, Beijing, from the ancient Qing court collection, is illustrated in Geng Baochang, ed., Gugong Bowuyuan cang Ming chu qinghua ci [Early Ming blue-and-white porcelain in the Palace Museum], Beijing, 2002, vol. 1, pl. 29 (fig. 3), together with a Qianlong copy, vol. 2, pl. 212; another is kept in the Summer Palace, Beijing (Zhou Shangyun, 'Yiheyuan cangci jingshang [Highlights of the ceramic collection of the Summer Palace]', Forbidden City, 2008, vol. 5, p.92 top).

fig. 3. Blue and white Arabic-inscribed stand, wudangzun, Ming dynasty, Yongle period Qing court collection. © Collection of Palace Museum, Beijing

A stand in the Tianjin Municipal Museum is illustrated in Tianjin Shi Yishu Bowuguan cang ci/Porcelains from the Tianjin Municipal Museum, Hong Kong, 1993, pl. 79, where it is stated that copies were made in the Kangxi (1662-1722), Yongzheng (1723-1735) and Qianlong reigns; an example in the Shanghai Museum, is published in Lu Minghua, Shanghai Bowuguan zangpin yanjiu daxi/Studies of the Shanghai Museum Collections : A Series of Monographs. Mingdai guanyao ciqi [Ming imperial porcelain], Shanghai, 2007, pl. 3-23; and one that had been collected in the Xingtai region by the Hebei Cultural Relics Shop, as recorded in Wenwu 1994, no. 1, p.73, is now apparently in the Folk Art Museum of Hebei Province (Minjian cang zhen: Hebei Sheng Minsu Bowuguan cang ciqi jingpin [Highlights of the ceramic collection of the Folk Art Museum of Hebei Province], Shijiazhuang, 2006, pp. 20-21).

A very similar stand in the British Museum, London, acquired by its former owner, Dr Joseph Aractingi in Damascus and first published in John Carswell, ‘An Early Ming Porcelain Stand from Damascus’, Oriental Art, New Series, vol. XII, no. 3, autumn 1966, p. 176, is now in the British Museum, illustrated in Jessica Harrison-Hall, Ming Ceramics in the British Museum, London, 2001, no. 3:22, together with a Mamluk silver-inlaid brass stand of similar shape, p. 110, fig. 1. Harrison-Hall remarks on the “very dark blue blurred cobalt tones”, which characterise the British Museum stand – as they do the present piece and similarly at least also the Palace Museum, Shanghai Museum and Hebei Museum examples.

fig. 4. Blue and white sherds excavated from the imperial kiln site in Zhushan, mark and period of Xuande. Courtesy of Jingdezhen Ceramics Archaeology Institute. 

Lot 105. A rare Guan lobed jardinière, Southern Song – Yuan dynasty (1127-1368); 15 cm, 5 7/8  in. Estimate: HK$15,000,000 — 20,000,000/ US$ 1,910,700 - 2,547,600. Courtesy Sotheby's. 

of quatrelobed section, the deep gently flaring sides divided into four lobes, rising from four ruyi-shaped feet to a wide everted rim, the dark brown body covered overall in a silky opaque glaze of greyish-celadon tone, suffused with a fine network of luminous golden-beige crackles, the interior with five fine, dark brown spur marks.

Provenance: Collection of Mrs Alfred Clark (1890-1976), no. 661.
Collection of Dr Lin, sold at Sotheby's London, 25th March 1975, lot 102.
Acquired from Sakamoto Gorō (1923-2016) in 2003.

Literature: Sir Percival David, Chinese Connoisseurship: The Ko Ku Yao Lun. The Essential Criteria of Antiquities, New York, 1971, pl. 22d.

‘Rare as Stars at Dawn’ - An Exceptional Lobed Guan Jardinière
Dr Hajni Elias 

This modest, cracked, light-grey stoneware represents one of the most sought after wares in the history of Chinese ceramics – the guan ware of the Southern Song to the Yuan periods (12th-13th centuries). It is enveloped in an especially rich and smooth glaze silk-like to the touch and pleasing to the eye. Under magnification, the glaze contains millions of tiny bubbles which are referred to by scholars as the ‘Accumulated Foam and Stringed Beads (jumei cuanzhu)’. This is a reference to the scattered nature of the bubbles that make the surface of the glaze lustrous with a jade-like quality. The distinct web of crackled ‘veins’ running through the surface of the ware appear natural, displaying the technical challenges and trials potters faced in the application of glaze and successful firing. These patterned lines represent the stylish ornamental feature known in Chinese as the ‘Gold Thread and Iron Wire (jinsi tiexian)’. The dark body, visible at the foot and in the five spur marks in the interior of the jardinière, is a reminder of the iron-rich material of the body of the vessel which was considered special and much imitated by potters at the Jingdezhen kilns of Jiangxi province in the Qing period (1644-1911) when they coated white porcelain with blackish-brown slip before glazing. Scholars in the Palace Museum, Beijing, have named jardinières of this elegant shape after the beautiful four petaled flower of the Malus Spectabilis, commonly known as the Chinese crab apple (haitang). The pinkish-white blossom of the crab apple tree is distinguished by the beautiful shape of its individual flowers and long pedicels. Its name is a pun for a ‘hall (tang)’ which represents the home itself and in Chinese art has come to convey the message for the blessing of an honoured family home. While the floral form for a jardinière may be a reference to its use in gardens or terraces, the vessel’s charming small size may also suggest that it was made to hold a miniature landscape garden, known as penjing (or bonsai in Japanese) which became a highly valued form of art in the Song dynasty. For more details on the art of penjing and its history see the essay for lot 104 in this catalogue.

While no two guan wares are ever the same, the present jardinière is related to two vessels, one in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Li Huibing, ed., Songdai Guan yao ciqi/Official Kiln Porcelain of the Song Dynasty (960-1279), Beijing, 2013, pl. 53 (fig. 1), where it is described as ‘Chinese Flowering Crabapple Form Xiuneisi Ware Jardinière (Xiuneisi yao haitang shi huapen)’, and another in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, included in the exhibition Precious Morning Star: 12-14th Century Celadons in the Qing Court Collection, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 2016, cat. no. IV-11 (fig. 2), where it is dated to the 13-14th centuries and mentioned as a type of ware that was shaped in a mould and fired on a ring setter. Furthermore, in their charming four-petal lobed forms the two guan jardinières and the present example are similar to a vessel excavated from a tomb dated to 1205 at Liugongmiao, Zhangshu city, Jiangxi province, suggesting a possible manufacture date for all three in this exquisite group of wares (fig. 3). Interestingly, the National Palace Museum has a further example of a larger celadon glazed jardinière of this form, with a copper-bound rim and four cloud-shaped feet illustrated ibid., cat. no. IV-12. It is attributed to the Yuan period (1271-1368) by scholars at the Museum who have compared it with contemporaneous Jun jardinières known from the Museum’s collection (to be discussed below).

 fig. 1. Guan lobed jardinière, Xiuneisi kilns, Southern Song dynasty. © Collection of Palace Museum, Beijing.

 fig. 2. Guan lobed jardinière, Southern Song – Yuan dynasty. © Collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei.

fig. 3 . Qingbai lobed jardinière, Southern Song dynasty. Excavated from a tomb dated 1205 in Liugongmiao, Zhangshu City, Jiangxi Province. Courtesy of the Zhangshu Museum

The general rarity of guan wares is highlighted by the Qianlong Emperor (r. 1735-1796) in a poem composed in 1777 and inscribed on the base of a guan-type vase, formerly in the Qing court collection and now housed in the British Museum in London. The poem is worth quoting in full as it not only sheds light on the history of the production of guan wares from the Southern Song dynasty onwards, but also mentions the personnel involved in its manufacture and the Emperor’s deep appreciation for them which he labelled as ‘rare as the stars at dawn’. The poem reads and translates as follows:

 ‘Guan ware first gained renown when the Song court moved to the South. The ‘Ware of the Rear Garden’ was modelled on the earlier ware of Zheng He. (Shao) Chengzhang directed its manufacture solely for Imperial use, and neither ministers nor common people dared to pass or gaze upon them. More than six hundred years have passed since that time, yet one or two guan ware vessels, as rare as stars at dawn, may still be found. Who knows if the laws of former years survive today? Alas, how sad that this should be their plight – A reflection of the fate of the House of Yin in the Zhou dynasty. Composed by the Qianlong Emperor in the Spring of the cyclical year dingyou (AD 1777)'1

The Emperor in his poem identifies vessels known as the ‘Ware of the Rear Garden (houyuan)’ belonging to a small group of wares known as the ‘Xiuneisi guan’. The Xiuneisi, known as the Palace Maintenance Office, located at today’s Laohudong kiln site, was the official manufactory of imperial guan wares and was installed in the city of Hangzhou, Zhejiang province - the new capital of the Southern Song dynasty. Following the victory of the Jurchens of the Jin dynasty (1115-1234) over the northern territories of China in the beginning of the 12th century, the surviving Northern Song imperial family abandoned their base in the former capital of Kaifeng in 1127 and retreated southwards, setting up a new dynasty at the southern terminus of the Grand Canal of the Yangtze river. Thus was the beginning of the production of a ‘new’ guan ware modelled on the official imperial ware known from the Northern Song period (960-1127). One of the earliest references to Xiuneisi may be found in the work of the Southern Song scholar Ye Zhi, who in the Tan zhai bihen [Composed measures from the Tan Studio] wrote as follows: 

‘In the [new] capital a kiln for the firing and making of wares was established and the ware was named guan. [The production of guan was thus] revived crossing the Yangtze River [in the south]. There was a Shao Chengzhang who proposed the undertaking of the “Ware of the Rear Garden”. His sobriquet was Shaoju. He continued the neglected production [method] of the ancient capital and established the kiln [site] at Xiuneisi. [Xiuneisi] produced celadon utensils called “inner wares” that used clear clay as standard. [These wares were] extremely fine with a glossy coloured [glaze] that was lustrous and translucent. They were treasured [by everyone] in the realm. Subsequently, a different new kiln was established at Jiaotanxia [which produced wares that were] greatly different from [that produced at the] old kiln.’2

This passage, which may have been the original source material for Qianlong’s poem on the official imperial manufactory at Xiuneisi, is revealing in many ways. It not only locates the new kiln site but also names Shao Chengzhang, eunuch chief to the court of Emperor Gaozong (r. 1127-1162), in charge of the production of what came to be known as the ‘inner wares’, confirming the imperial patronage and sponsorship of the production of guan wares. The passage also describes the exceptional quality of the newly revived guan, how it was modelled on the official ware of the Northern Song period, and how it came to be prized in the empire. The author further mentions the kiln site at Jiaotanxia in the capital which, we are told, produced a similar but lesser quality ware. Recent archaeological discoveries have confirmed the existence of two different kiln sites, one at Wuguishan, south of the former imperial city, the other at Laohudong (mentioned in the passage above) which was located within the boundaries of the imperial city walls. Because of their locations and the different qualities of the sherds recovered, the Wuguishan kiln has been interpreted as the lesser, Jiaotanxia kiln, with the Laohudong kiln being the exalted Xiuneisi manufactory.3

The shape of the present jardinière is better known from another important imperial ware made at the Juntai kilns in present-day Yuzhou prefecture in Henan province. Known as the ‘Numbered Jun’ wares, they are celebrated for their shared similarities in glaze and colouration to the classic Jun vessels (Junyao), however, they are distinguished for their sophisticated forms and for the marks of a single Chinese numeral on each vessel’s base, which gave the peculiar name of the ware. See a number 7 and a number 4 Jun jardinière of similar lobed form to the present vessel, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, published in Junyao yaji. Gugong Bowuyuan zhencang ji chutu Junyao ciqi huicui/Selection of Jun Ware. The Palace Museum’s Collection and Archaeological Excavation, Palace Museum, Beijing, 2013, pls 63 and 64. Sir Percival David in his introduction to the 1952 Oriental Ceramics Society exhibition on Ru and guan wares, lists the present guan jardinière as having ‘its opposite number in certain similarly shaped vessels and their stands of Chün ware, such as the well known example in the Freer Gallery’.4 

Apart from its imperial provenance, this jardinière was formerly in the distinguished collections of Mrs Alfred Clark (1890-1976) and Mr Sakamoto Gorō (1923-2016). The former, married to Alfred Clark (1873-1950), the British-American pioneer of music recording and cinema and manager of companies such as HMV and EMI, was an enthusiastic collector of Chinese ceramics and with her husband formed one of the most important Western collections in the early 20th century. Husband and wife were both members of the Oriental Ceramic Society, with Alfred Clark on the Council of the society between 1934-1948, and lent many of their pieces to exhibitions including the Royal Academy of Arts in London in 1935-1936, and the Oriental Ceramic Society exhibition in 1952. Lady David (wife of Sir Percival David) is recorded saying how most of the Clark collection of Chinese ceramics was displayed in the living rooms, with a ‘little room upstairs’ where their Song dynasty pieces were displayed. She described the collection as ‘small, formed by two people with extremely good taste’.5 The Japanese collector, connoisseur and antiques dealer Sakamoto Gorō, is a true legend in the world of Chinese art. His career, which spanned almost seventy years, made him an authority in the field that was far beyond simply having a good eye for art. Mr Sakamoto is remembered as an international treasure with the ability for divining the spirit or atmosphere given off by a work of art and detecting the true nature of the object.6

1 Transcription and translation of the poem is included in the British Museum website https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/ collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=3180074&partId=1&people=162439&sortBy=imageName&page=1 [Accessed: March 2, 2019].
2 Quoted in Chuogeng lu tongjian [General guidance on retirement to the countryside], Beijing, 1950.
3 See Zhongguo Shehui, Kexueyuan Kaogusuo, eds, Nan Song guanyao [Guan ware from the Southern Song dynasty], Beijing, 1996; Du Zhengxian, ed., Hangzhou Laohudong yaozhi ciqi jingxuan [Selected masterpieces from Laohudong kiln site, Hangzhou], Beijing, 2002; and Zhang Zhenchang, ed., Nan Song guanyao wenji [A collection of essays on Southern Song dynasty guan kiln], Beijing, 2004.
4 Sir David’s introduction in The Oriental Ceramic Society Exhibition of Ju and Kuan Wares: Imperial Wares of the Sung Dynasty, Related Wares and Derivatives of Later Date, London, 1952, p. 4.
5 Stacey Pierson, Collectors, Collections and Museums: The Field of Chinese Ceramics in Britain, 1560-1960, Oxford and New York, 2007, pp. 171-2.
6 Jeffey Hantover, ‘Sakamoto Gorō and the Art of Mekiki,’ in Chinese Art Through the Eye of Sakamoto Gorō, Sotheby’s New York, March 2015, p. 12.

Lot 104. A rare Guan hexagonal jardinière, Southern Song – Yuan dynasty (1127-1368); 16.5 cm, 6 1/2  in. Estimate: HK$10,000,000 — 15,000,000/ US$ 1,273,800 - 1,910,700. Courtesy Sotheby's. 

of hexagonal section, the flaring sides divided into six facets, supported on six ruyi-shaped feet at the corners and rising to a flat everted rim, the dark brown body unctuously veiled with a bluish-grey glaze suffused with a matrix of dark crackles, the unglazed feet revealing the brown-dressed dark grey body.

Provenance: Collection of Mrs Alfred Clark (1890-1976), no. 638.
Sotheby’s London, 25th March 1975, lot 112.
Acquired from Sakamoto Gorō (1923-2016) in 2003. 

Exhibited: The Oriental Ceramic Society Exhibition of Ju and Kuan Wares: Imperial Wares of the Sung Dynasty, Related Wares and Derivatives of Later Date, London, 1952, cat. no. 64.

Synthesis of Nature and Art: A Charming Hexagonal Guan Jardinière
Dr Hajni Elias

This hexagonal jardinière represents the much desired and rare type of ware created for the Southern Song imperial court. It is exquisitely potted and covered in a thick light-grey glaze with the dark, blackish-brown body visible at the foot. The straight but slightly sloping sides of the vessel add depth and substance to the object, accentuating its unusual hexagonal shape. The glaze itself is particularly smooth to the touch and is suffused with an attractive network of crackles. It is a fine example of the fabled Southern Song official ware and showcases the potter’s ingenuity, high level of technical ability and aesthetic sophistication.

The vessel displays the characteristics of guan wares produced at Xiuneisi, located at the Laohudong kiln site, in the outskirts of Hangzhou city in Zhejiang province. Xiuneisi, set within the grounds of the Southern Song imperial city, was the Palace Maintenance Office for the official manufactory of imperial guan wares. It was established in the new capital of Hangzhou after the collapse of the Northern Song dynasty when the imperial family and the court moved from Kaifeng to South China in 1127. For more information on the Xiuneisi and the imperial manufactory of guan wares see the essay for lot 105 in this catalogue.

The magnificence and scarcity of guan wares were elaborated on by the eminent collector and connoisseur of Chinese ceramics and whose un-paralleled collection is now housed in the British Museum in London, Sir Percival David (1892-1964). In his introduction to the Oriental Ceramics Society exhibition of Ru and guan wares held in London in 1952, Sir David describes the present charming jardinière and its companions in the exhibition as follows:

‘“It is impossible to foretell”, says an enthusiastic late Ming writer in his discourse on Ju, Kuan, and Ko wares, “to what point the loss of these ancient wares will continue. For that reason, I never see a specimen but my heart dilates and my eye flashes while my soul seems suddenly to gain wings, and I need no earthly food, reaching a state of exaltation such as one could scarcely expect a mere hobby to produce”. In the centuries that have followed the writing of those prophetic words, the destruction and disappearance of these precious wares have continued with gathering momentum. Yet despite their much diminished numbers, it is, I suppose, not to be expected, so far have we hapless moderns fallen from grace, that the visitor to the present exhibition, however keenly interested he may be, will have his feelings stirred in this same way, notwithstanding the satisfying display that has here been spread for his pleasure, his appetite and his edification.’1

In this passage, Sir David highlights the extreme rarity of imperial guan wares available for viewing and the very enthusiasm with which they were and are appreciated. Interestingly, his knowledge and trained eyes instigated a further insightful observation on this piece when he mentions the deliberate imitative efforts of Song dynasty potters in both glaze and form, especially the borrowings between the makers of the guan and Jun jardinières (we shall return to this later).

This jardinière is unusual for its hexagonal form, although vessels of this type were made in other shapes, such as the quadrangular guan jardinière of comparable dimensions, in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Guanyao ciqi/The Guan Kilns, Beijing, 2016, pl. 32 (fig. 1). Scholars who have catalogued and researched the Palace Museum jardinière suggest that wares of this type were made to satisfy the imperial demand for miniature landscape gardens, known in Chinese as penjing and often referred to in the Western world by its Japanese name bonsai. They further note that guan wares in this special group were primarily inspired by Jun jardinières which may be found in somewhat greater numbers.2 This gives a compelling insight into the use of vessels of this type and confirms the reasons for the dimensions which are smaller than is usual for jardinières. A mural painting given the title by scholars as Courtiers and Guests discovered in the tomb of the sixth son of Emperor Gaozong (r. 649-683), Prince Zhang Huai (654-684), of the Tang Dynasty (618-907) and dated to 706, shows a servant dressed in court attire, holding with both hands in the gesture of offering a penjing with miniature rockeries and trees.3

fig. 1. Guan square jardinière, Song dynasty Qing court collection. © Collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing.

Miniature landscapes became a highly developed art form that was treasured by the imperial household as well as the scholar-literati from as early as the Tang period. By the Song dynasty it was elevated to new heights with poets such as Su Shi (1037-1101) and Lu You (1125-1209) composing poems that record their joy and delight in penjing landscapes. Lu You in his poem titled ‘Calamus (Changpu)’ wrote as follows: 

The calamus of Mount Yen and the stones from Mount Kun,
have been collected and arranged to lessen loneliness.
One cun long roots grow densely in nine nodes,
a handful of lofty value.
Crystal clear springs bring out the colour of the bluish-green pot in a manner
charming enough to impress the most eminent rustic.
With the mountain foliage in view daily,
this object sweeps the memory of cares.
The layers of roots, leaves, and shoots become better
the longer one looks at them.
Making one regret that they were not gazed at earlier.

It enables me to imbibe the wind-brought-dew,
and nourish my spirit as I myself age effortlessly. 4

Lu You’s poem gives us an insight into the appreciation of miniature penjing landscapes as well as the importance of the wares made for them. He praises the beauty of the bluish-green glaze of the jardinière, and expresses his admiration for the landscape it holds. The natural landscape and the man-made ‘pot’ together form the perfect synthesis of nature and artefact venerated by the elite at the time. What is also apparent is that wares made for the use of penjing were either one-off pieces or were made in small numbers as their shapes depended on the nature of the landscape itself.

Amy Liang in her work on the art of penjing mentions that Song jardinières made for miniature landscapes were primarily Ru and Jun wares, many of which are now in the collection of the National Palace Museum in Taipei.5 See two hexagonal ‘Numbered’ Jun jardinières included in A Panorama of Ceramics in the Collection of the National Palace Museum: Chün Ware, Taipei, 1999, pls 47 and 48, both inscribed with the number ‘seven (qi)’ and the reference ‘Made for the use of the Bright and Clear Studio in the Hall of Mental Cultivation (Yangxin dian Mingchuang yong)’. The ‘Bright and Clear Studio’ was located in the Eastern section of the Hall of Mental Cultivation where the New Year’s Day ceremony of the emperor writing his first poem of the year, known as the ‘Bright and Clear Studio First Composition Ceremony (Mingchuang kaibi dian), was held. This suggests that the two vessels were part of the furnishing of this special studio with an important literary function. 

On the significance of this distinct group of flower vessels known as ‘Numbered Jun’ wares, that were mostly made in moulds and inscribed on the base with numerals from one to ten, related to the size of the vessel, see Li Baoping, ‘Numbered Jun Wares: Controversies and New Kiln Site Discoveries,’ Transactions of the Oriental Ceramic Society, vol. 71, 2006-7, pp. 65-77. The author discusses the controversy behind the dating of this group, with the emergence of two different schools of thought, one suggesting a late Northern Song dynasty (960-1127) attribution, while the other proposed a later dating, which would be more in line with the possible attribution of the present piece. However, the official status of this group is indisputable. It has recently been confirmed as such by scholars from the Palace Museum in Beijing who have identified them as the ‘display type of official Jun ware' (chenshe lei Jun ci huo guan Jun).6 Thus, the imperial use of both guan and Jun jardinières belonging to this group of wares has been established by these studies.

In addition to its imperial provenance, more recently, the present guan jardinière belonged to two of the most important collectors of Chinese art in the twentieth century, Mrs Alfred Clark (1890-1976) and Mr Sakamoto Gorō (1923-2016). Ivy Clark, and her husband, Alfred Clark, formed one of the most fabled collections of Chinese ceramics in the Western world. They were active supporters of the Oriental Ceramic Society and were directly involved in the preparation of the 1935-6 Chinese art exhibition in London to which they lent five dozen pieces. When Sir David’s wife, Lady David, in an interview conducted in 1992, was asked whose collection her husband admired most she replied, ‘I think the Clarks'… collection, I would say, was one of the finest’.7 The Japanese art collector, connoisseur and dealer, Sakamoto Gorō, was a larger than life figure in the Chinese art world and whose extensive contribution to the collecting and appraising of Chinese art was second to none. For a detailed account of his career and legacy see Sakamoto Gorō: The Legacy, Sotheby’s London, 2016.

1 Sir Percival David, ‘Introduction,’ in The Oriental Ceramic Society Exhibition of Ju and Kuan Wares: Imperial Wares of the Sung Dynasty, Related Wares and Derivatives of Later Date, London, 1952, p. 2.
2 See the notes in Guanyao ciqi, op.cit., pl. 32.
3 See the mural painting illustrated in Amy Liang, The Living Art of Bonsai: Principles and Techniques of Cultivation andPropagation, New York, 2005, p. 101. This is considered the oldest fresco depiction of penjing discovered to date.
4 For guidance on the translation of this poem see Liang, op.cit., pp. 102-3.
5 Ibid., p. 203.
6 See Junyao yaji: Gugong Bowuyuan zhencang ji chutu Junyao ciqi huicui/Selection of Jun Ware. The Palace Museum's Collection and Archaeological Excavation, Palace Museum, 2013, p. 168ff.
7 Anthony Lin Hua-Tien, ‘An Interview with Lady David’, Orientations, April 1992, pp. 56-63. 

Lot 106. A superb and rare blue and white moulded 'Dragon' stem cup, Yuan dynasty (1279-1368); 1d. 11.5 cm, 4 1/2  in. Estimate: HK$6,000,000 — 8,000,000/ US$ 764,280 - 1,019,040. Courtesy Sotheby's. 

the wide, flared cup with rounded sides rising to an everted rim, supported on a hollow splayed stem with horizontal bamboo-node ridges emphasised by incised lines, the interior crisply moulded around the well with two four-clawed dragons striding among flames in pursuit of a flaming pearl, one with the character yu (jade) in front of its foremost claw, set around a central medallion boldly painted in an outstanding shade of dark cobalt blue with a chrysanthemum spray within a moulded double-line border, all under a classic scroll at the rim, the exterior decorated in underglaze blue with a single three-clawed dragon with wide open jaws, a slender undulating body and scales finely detailed by cross-hatching, emitting flames and chasing a pearl between single line borders, the cup applied overall with a smooth transparent glaze slightly tinged to blue and thinning to white on the moulded designs on the interior, the interior of the stem and footring left unglazed and fired pale orange.

Provenance: Collection of Stephen Junkunc III (1905-1978).
Christie's Hong Kong, 25th October 1993, lot 718.

Exhibited: Blue-Decorated Porcelain of the Ming Dynasty, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, 1949, cat. no. 4.

Note: While a number of 14th century blue and white stem cups of this form and decoration are known in museums and private collections, the present example is especially fine for the lively depiction of the dragon, the expertly applied crisp glaze and the vividness of the cobalt blue. It is evident that the piece was highly prized by its owners over the past seven centuries. The artist has executed the dragon chasing 'flaming pearls' in a free and vigorous fashion, bringing this mythical creature to life.  While the meaning of the yu character, found in the interior of the vessel moulded in front of a dragon's foremost claw, remains a matter of debate, it may represent a grading system with the yu, meaning 'jade', added to especially fine pieces. Some consider it part of the decoration representing the meaning 'jewel' (bao) and associated with the flaming pearl.

For related stem cups, decorated both with dragons and phoenix, see those excavated from the Yuan city site at Jininglu in Inner Mongolia included in Chen Yongzhi ed., Porcelain Unearthed from Jininglu Ancient City Site in Inner Mongolia, Beijing, 2004, pl. 46 for a dragon stem cup, pls 42-4 for three stem cups decorated with phoenix, and p. 12 for several pieces packed together in a jar as found on site. Another example, excavated from the tomb of the eminent Ming official Wang Xingzu, datable to the fourth year of Hongwu (1371), in the Nanjing Museum, is published in Wang Qingzheng, Underglaze Blue and Red, Hong Kong, 1993, pl. 33; and a third, in the Art Museum, Chinese University of Hong Kong, was included in the exhibition Yuan and Ming Blue and White Ware from Jiangxi, Jiangxi Provincial Museum, Nanchang, 2002, cat. no. 15. Compare a related stem cup, but with stiff leaves encircling the foot, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Blue and White Porcelain with Underglazed Red (I), Shanghai, 2000, pl. 12.

See also a stem cup in the British Museum, London, published in Jessica Harrison-Hall, Ming Ceramics in the British Museum, London, 2001, pl. 1:24; two similar stem cups from the collections of Mrs O. Harriman and Lord Cunliffe, included in the exhibition Chinese Blue and White Porcelain: 14th to 19th Centuries, The Oriental Ceramic Society at the Arts Council Gallery, London, 1953-3, cat. nos 11 and 12 respectively; and a fourth example from the R.H.R. Palmer and Jingguantang collections, sold several times at auction and most recently in these rooms, 9th October 2012, lot 17, from the Meiyintang collection.

From the Meiyintang Collection. A Fine And Rare Blue And White Moulded “Dragon” Stemcup, Yuan Dynasty, Early-Mid 14th Century. Diametre: 11.5 cm. Sold for 12,420,000 HKD at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 9th October 2012, lot 17. Photo Sotheby's.

Cf. my post: Sotheby's Hong Kong to hold Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art Autumn Sales on 9 October 2012

Lot 101. An outstanding and extremely rare wintergreen-glazed stem bowl, Ming dynasty, Yongle period (1403-1425); d. 16.3 cm, 6 3/8  in. Estimate: HK$3,000,000 — 5,000,000/ US$ 382,140 - 636,900. Courtesy Sotheby's.

finely potted, the bowl with steep rounded sides rising to a gently flaring rim, all supported on a splayed hollow stem with a raised horizontal ridge simulating bamboo node, delicately applied with a superbly fired flawless, translucent wintergreen glaze of ideal tone, thinning to white at the rim and subtly pooling to a darker shade above the foot, at the joint between the stem and the bowl, along the raised ridge and just below the rim, the interior of the stem applied with a transparent glaze slightly tinged to green, the footring left unglazed revealing a smooth pure white biscuit.

Wintergreen – An Auspicious Colour
Regina Krahl

‘Wintergreen’ (dongqing) is undoubtedly one of the rarest and most enchanting porcelain glaze colours developed by the imperial kilns of Jingdezhen. As a more poetic alternative for the word ‘evergreen’, ‘wintergreen’ and is used in China to identify many different plants, in particular the Chinese ilex, a plant also known as wannianzhi (‘ten thousand year branches’). The term – and the colour – thus reverberate with good wishes for a long life.

The Yongle reign (1403-1424) is noted for the dramatic changes and innovations introduced to China’s porcelain production, as the kilns came under direct supervision from the court. No other reign, except perhaps the Yongzheng period three centuries later (1723-1735), is marked by such an abundance of new shapes, styles, colours and designs, a sea change so fundamental, that thereafter no real innovation took place for centuries.

The subtle pale green hue that makes the particular charm of ‘wintergreen’ appears to have been devised to echo the sea-green tone of the finest contemporary celadon wares from the Longquan kilns. In the Yongle period, the kilns of Jingdezhen in Jiangxi and those of Longquan in Zhejiang were working side by side to specifications from the court, but not in direct competition with each other. While both kiln centres were recruited to produce the large, sturdy vessels that were intended to be sent abroad as diplomatic gifts, the Jiangxi workshops alone, with their pure white body material and their more exacting potting, glazing and firing, appear to have been in the business of supplying the court with the refined smaller vessels the Emperor might have come in direct contact with, such as this stem bowl.

Stem bowls of less distinctive shape and much cruder workmanship had been produced at both kiln centres at least since the Yuan dynasty (1279-1368), and those from Longquan kilns often already showed the bamboo-node detail at the stem, but simply indicated by two incised parallel lines (see Zhu Boqian, Longquan yao qingci/Celadons from Longquan Kilns, Taipei, 1998, pls 199 and 200). Yet, these predecessors have little in common with Yongle stem bowls such as the present piece. The strict supervision from the court caused not only an unprecedented refinement of material and craftsmanship, but also introduced a very intentional calibration of proportions, probably due to a design emanating from the drawing board rather than directly from the potter’s wheel. The superb silhouette of the present piece, and its remarkable even colouration, with a subtle natural gradation where it pools and contrasting white edges where it drains, are features that we have come to expect from Yongle imperial porcelain.

In the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), stem bowls had a distinct Buddhist connotation. The strong belief of the Yongle Emperor in Tibetan Buddhism initiated an unprecedented flowering of works of art ordered from various imperial workshops for use in Buddhist ceremonies, from Buddhist gilt-bronze sculptures over lacquer sutra cover to many other accoutrements and votive items in different media, including porcelain. Stem bowls were either used in Buddhist ceremonies in the imperial palaces, or bestowed on high-ranking Tibetan Buddhist clerics and their monasteries. Several fine early Ming stem bowls are still preserved in Tibet, where they may have been used together with monk’s cap ewers; see Xueyu cangzhen. Xizang wenwu jinghua/Treasures from Snow Mountains. Gems of Tibetan Cultural Relics, Shanghai Museum, Shanghai, 2001, cat. nos 93-97. Elaborate fitted cases made for transport or storage, are testimony to the high esteem in which they were held (ibid., cat. nos 95 and 99).

At the Qing court (1644-1911), early Ming stem bowls were valued as objects of beauty and displayed sitting in sizeable wooden stands, encompassing and completely hiding their stem, but protecting them against toppling. A monochrome white stem bowl, almost certainly also of the Yongle period, is depicted with its stand in the Guwantu [Pictures of antiquities] of 1729, preserved in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, and illustrated in China. The Three Emperors. 1662-1795, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 2005, cat. no. 169, p. 255 bottom right.

Only two other stem bowls of this ‘wintergreen’ colour and with this ‘bamboo-node’ stem appear to be recorded, one in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Monochrome Porcelain, Hong Kong, 1999, pl. 124 (fig. 1), the other sold in our London rooms, 7th April 1981, lot 252, and again in these rooms, 11th May 1983, lot 105.

fig. 1. Wintergreen-glazed stem bowl, Ming Dynasty, Yongle period (1403-1425).© Collection of Palace Museum, Beijing.

A few ‘wintergreen’ stem bowls lacking the ‘bamboo-node’ detail are also recorded from the Yongle reign: one in the Tibet Museum, see Xizang Bowuguan cang Ming Qing ciqi jingpin/Ming and Qing Dynasties Ceramics Preserved in Tibet Museum, Beijing, 2004, pl. 26; another, with slight damage, in the Palace Museum, illustrated in Geng Baochang, ed., Gugong Bowuguan cang gu taoci ciliao xuancui [Selection of ancient ceramic material from the Palace Museum], Beijing, 2005, vol. 1, pl. 88; and one was sold in these rooms, 19th November 1986, lot 215, and again 8th October 2013, lot 3028. A single ‘wintergreen’ example also exists with anhua dragons around the interior and a four-character Yongle mark incised in the centre inside, sold in these rooms 24th November 1981, lot 133, and again in our New York rooms, 22nd March 2001, lot 90.

A fine and extremely rare 'Wintergreen' glazed stembowl, Ming Dynasty, Yongle Period (1403-1424); diameter 15.1 cm, 6 in. Sold for 7,840,000 HKD at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 8th October 2013, lot 3028. Photo: Sotheby's

Cf. my post: A fine and extremely rare 'Wintergreen' glazed stembowl, Ming Dynasty, Yongle Period (1403-1424)

After the Yongle period, this subtle coloration, which requires impeccably prepared materials and utmost control of the firing, was soon abandoned and properly revived only in the Yongzheng reign. The imperial kilns also developed some other related pale green glaze colours in this period, such as the more bluish cuiqing (‘kingfisher green’) colour seen on small jars (as sold in these rooms, 8th October 2009, lot 1624), but these different shades seem to have been designated to particular shapes and were fired to incredible precision. Only in the Yongzheng reign had the potters once more regained the ability to create at will such closely related, but clearly distinguishable glaze tones.

Lot 103. A rare Longquan celadon tobi seiji pear-shaped vase, yuhuchunping, Yuan dynasty (1279-1368); 26 cm, 10 1/4  in. Estimate: HK$2,000,000 — 3,000,000/ US$ 254,760 - 382,140. Courtesy Sotheby's.

delicately potted with a pear-shaped body rising from a splayed foot to a waisted neck and elegantly sweeping up to a flared rim, covered overall in a thick sage-green glaze whimsically applied with dabs of irregular iron-brown splashes, the glaze stopping neatly at the unglazed footring revealing the light grey body.

Note: The elegance of the present vase is captured in its long slender neck and gentle curves outlining its attractive silhouette. The spontaneous dabs of russet spots, distributed neither evenly nor randomly, softly dissolve into the bright sea-green glaze. These iron-decorated Longquan celadon wares, despite their subtle elegance, were produced only during the Yuan dynasty, and the present vase is extremely rare, with only four other known examples.

The history of the Longquan kilns can be traced back to at least the Song dynasty (960-1279). By the Yuan dynasty (1271-1368), the kilns successfully produced wares in a range of bright jade-green tones, which set themselves apart from the muted celadon colour spectrum dominant in the preceding era and developed into the signature product of the kilns. Spreading over a large part of Zhejiang province, the Longquan kilns were conveniently located within reach of the trade ports of Wenzhou and Quanzhou, from where merchandise could be shipped to foreign markets in the Far East, Southeast Asia, India and the Middle East. This advantage was fully exploited in the Yuan dynasty and large quantities of wares were made for foreign markets. A huge quantity of large-scale vessels was produced to satisfy export demand. At the same time, new decorative techniques were deployed to revitalise traditional forms, as seen in the present example. Although the use of iron spots on celadon wares was observed on Yue wares from the late Western Jin dynasty (256-316), it was discontinued and only revived by the Longquan kilns in the Yuan dynasty. The russet spots effect is achieved by applying iron-rich pigment to the thick layer of celadon glaze before firing. The tea-brown patches, scattered like a shower of petals, are praised by the Japanese tea masters as tobi seiji – a term probably referring to the random distribution of the brown spots (see Kobayashi Hitoshi, ‘Guobao feiqingci huasheng kao [On the National Treasure tobi seiji hanaike]’, Chen Xin, trans., Zhongguo gu taoci yanjiu. Longquan yao yanjiu/The Research of Longquan Kiln, Beijing, 2011, p. 403). Despite its simplicity and beauty, the production of this type of wares lasted only for a short period of time, and the iron spots soon became much smaller and their distribution more restrained and regular.

Only four other examples of comparable form, size and decoration from the Yuan dynasty are known. The most famous among them is the National Treasure tobi seiji hanaike. Formerly in the collection of the Konoike family, it is now in the collection of the Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka (accession no. 00556), and included in the catalogue to the exhibited Yūkyū no kōsai. Tōyō tōji no bi. Osaka shiritsu tōyō tōji bijutsu kan korekushon/The Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka Collection: The Eternal Beauty and Luster of Oriental Ceramics, Tokyo, 2014, cat. no. 21 and cover (fig. 1). Another related vase from the Eumorfopoulos collection, is preserved in the Victoria and Albert Museum and published in Stacey Pierson, Chinese Ceramics: A Design History, London, 2009, pp. 88-89, fig. 128 (accession no. C.24-1935). A further example is in the Baur collection, reputed to originate from Japan, illustrated by John Ayers, Chinese Ceramics in the Baur Collection, Geneva, 1999, vol. 1, pl. 42 (A104). The fourth example, designated as an ‘Important Cultural Property’ in 1935, belongs to a Japanese private collection and is included in Koyama Fujio, ed., Sekai tōji zenshū/Catalogue of World’s Ceramics, vol. 10: Sung and Liao Dynasties, Tokyo, 1955, pl. 49. 

fig. 1. Longquan celadon tobi seiji pear-shaped vase, yuhuchunping, Yuan dynasty (1279-1368). Photo by Tomohiro Muda, Ataka collection. © The Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka.

Stoneware bottle with iron spot decoration and green 'celadon' glaze, Longquan ware, China, Yuan dynasty (1279-1368). Purchased with the assistance of The Art Fund, the Vallentin Bequest, Sir Percival David and the Universities China Committee, C.24-1935 © Victoria and Albert Museum, London 2016. 

A tobi seiji pear-shaped vase, yuhuchunping, Yuan dynasty. Bauer Collection Geneva.

All the above examples are preserved outside of China. A few related yuhuchun vases of similar size have been excavated from cellars in China, but they, without the iron spots, belong to the more common celadon group; see Zhongguo taoci quanji [Complete series on Chinese ceramics], vol. 10: Yuan dynasty (I), Shanghai, 2000, pls 27-28 and 30.

Compare also Longquan iron-decorated wares of other forms. A related ring-handled vase is in the collection of the Shanghai Museum and published by Zhu Boqian, Longquan yao qingci/Celadons from Longquan Kilns, Taipei, 1998, pl. 155. A yenyen vase from the Sir Percival David Foundation, said to be formerly in the Sakai family collection in Japan, is now in the British Museum and included in Regina Krahl and Jessica Harrison-Hall, Chinese Ceramics: Highlights of the Sir Percival David Collection, London, 2009, pl. 20. See also a garlic-mouth vase in the Ise Cultural Foundation, included in Chūgoku tōji meihin-ten: Ise korekushon no shihō/Masterpieces of Chinese Ceramic Art Exhibition: Treasure of Ise Collection, Ishikawa Prefectural Museum of Art, Kanazawa, 2012, cat. no. 41, and a related pair from the Yangdetang collection, sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 30th November 2016, lot 3133. Compare also a dish in the Baur collection, included in Ayers, op.cit., pl. 43 (A105). A related pouring vessel yi and a tripod stand, both dated to the 14th century, are preserved in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, and exhibited in Tsai Mei-fen, ed., Bilü– Mingdai Longquan yao Qingci/Green – Longquan Celadon of the Ming Dynasty, Taipei, 2009, cat. nos 157-158 (accession nos Gu ci 17375, 17829). Related vessels of various forms were also recovered from a ship that, on its way to Japan in 1323, sank off the coast of Korea. Two examples among this group are a biscuit-decorated dish and another yi pouring vessel, now in the National Museum of Korea and included in The Sunken Treasures off the Sinan Coast, Tokyo, 1983, cat. nos 22-23.

This type of tobi seiji vessel, as discussed above, is extremely rare, and most of the extant examples are either kept in Japan or have arrived overseas by way of Japan. Kobayashi suggested that this group of Longquan wares was in fact made for the Japanese market. His hypothesis can explain the popularity of iron-decorated Longquan celadon in Japan and the small quantity of relevant excavated and heirloom pieces in China (op.cit., p. 413). In fact, during the Yuan dynasty, Qingbai wares with brown spots were also produced for export, but they are generally less refined than their Longquan counterparts; see Ye Peilan, Yuandai ciqi [Porcelain of the Yuan dynasty], Beijing, 1998, pp. 247-8, pls 428-437.

Sotheby's. Six Treasures from an Important Private Collection, Hong Kong, 03 Apr 2019, 10:35 AM

Lot 3306. An extremely rare blue and white double-gourd flask, Seal mark and period of Qianlong (1736-1795); 18.3 cm, 7 1/4  in. Estimate 12,000,000 — 18,000,000 HKD (1,528,680 - 2,293,020 USD). Courtesy Sotheby's.

finely potted and painted in vivid tones of cobalt blue simulating Ming dynasty 'heaping and piling', the truncated lower bulb densely decorated with lotus scrolls, the shoulder draped with a band of pendent ruyi heads and detached floral sprigs, rising to a waisted neck with lappets collared by a raised ring, surmounted by a garlic-mouth painted with lingzhi borne on scrolling foliage and linked by a pair of curved ruyi handles, the base inscribed with a six-character seal mark.

Provenance: Sotheby's Hong Kong, 27th October 1993, lot 189.

Lot 3310. An outstanding blue and white tankard, Mark and period of Xuande (1426-1435); 13.4 cm, 5 1/4  in. Estimate 12,000,000 — 18,000,000 HKD (1,528,680 - 2,293,020 USD). Courtesy Sotheby's.

modelled after an Islamic metal or jade form, the globular body painted with an undulating flower scroll with alternating lotus and hibiscus blooms between two lappet bands, the cylindrical neck moulded and painted with further lappets, below a band of dots along the rim, the handle with a protruding flange, painted with a foliate scroll and terminating to a trefoil pencilled with an aster spray, inscribed with a horizontal six-character reign mark on the globular body just below the petals opposite the handle, the recessed base unglazed revealing the buff-coloured body.

Provenance: A private collection, Western France.
Sotheby's Paris, 16th December 2010, lot 33. 

Note: Tankards such as the present piece are amongst the most interesting and rare forms of porcelain from the Xuande period, a golden age for Chinese blue-and-white porcelain. The Xuande Emperor, himself a most accomplished artist, was a remarkable patron of the arts. This may explain the exceptionally high standard of the imperial porcelains manufactured under his patronage. Particularly outstanding are blue-and-white porcelains from his imperial kilns, which were so highly valued in the following Qing dynasty that even excellent examples from other reign periods of the early Ming were called “Xuande blue and white” in the court records. 

Porcelain tankards were made, with minor variations, both in the Yongle and Xuande periods, the former existing also in monochrome white and being always unmarked. The shape had been inspired by Islamic metal prototypes, like a few other early Ming porcelain vessel forms manufactured in this era of intense interaction with the Islamic world, when the Muslim Admiral, General Zheng He, embarked on his global voyages. These tankards appear to have been particular favourites of the Yongzheng Emperor. Two extant handscrolls of the Yongzheng period, Guwantu ('Pictures of Antiques'), from the Sir Percival David collection in the British Museum, and in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, dated in accordance with 1728 and 1729, respectively, depicting works of art from the Imperial collection include three such vessels from the early Ming period, all safely displayed on encompassing wooden stands, see China. The Three Emperors 1662-1795, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 2005-2006, cat. nos 168 and 169 (see a tankard of this design at the top right section of no. 169, fig. 1).

Picture of Ancient Playthings (Guwan tu), handscroll, ink and colour on paper, Qing dynasty, Yongzheng period, 1729, detail. © Collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Close Islamic metal and jade counterparts are known from the 15th and 16th centuries, but the basic shape might be based on earlier Persian prototypes. A 10th- or 11th-century jug from eastern Iran and four 15th-century examples in bronze, copper and brass are illustrated in Assadullah Souren Melikian-Chirvani, Islamic Metalwork from the Iranian World. 8th-18th Centuries, London, 1982, nos 8, 109, 113-4, 116, all of which have (or had), however, a ring foot. Compare also an Islamic jade tankard attributed to 1450-1500, with no ring foot, included in David Roxburgh, ed. Turks: A Journey of a Thousand Years, 600-1600, catalogue of an exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts, London, 2005, cat. no. 184; and a white jade tankard with ring foot, made in Samarkand between 1417 and 1449, published in Ma Wenkuan, 'A Study of Islamic Elements in Ming Dynasty Porcelain', in Li Baoping, Bruce Doar and Susan Dewar eds., Porcelain and Society, China Archaeology and Art Digest, vol. 3, no. 4, June 2000, pp. 7-38, fig. 20. See also the painting The Sultan and His Court, of c. 1450-1460, which depicts the Sultan and his Janissaries with several pieces of blue-and-white ware including a tankard, illustrated in John Carswell, Blue & White: Chinese Porcelain Around the World, London, 2000, fig. 67. Also noteworthy is a mid-15th century Islamic earthenware tankard painted with the motif of a Chinese dragon in blue, in Margaret Medley, 'Islamic and Chinese Porcelain in the 14th and Early 15th Centuries', Oriental Ceramic Society of Hong Kong Bulletin, no. 6, 1982-1984, fig. 15.

Although tankards of this form and design represent one of the best-known porcelain shapes of the Xuande period, this is due more to their distinctive character than a profusion of extant examples. Similar examples, although frequently illustrated, are rare. One piece from the Qing court collection is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Blue and White Porcelain with Underglazed Red. I, Shanghai, 2000, pl. 121, together with a similar piece painted with stylised blooms with feathery petals, pl. 120, both of which are also included in Wang Guangyao and Jiang Jianxin eds, Imperial Porcelains from the Reign of Xuande in the Ming Dynasty: A Comparison of Porcelains from the Imperial Kiln Site at Jingdezhen and the Imperial Collection of the Palace Museum, catalogue of an exhibition at the Palace Museum, Beijing, 2015, cat. nos 72-73. Another piece in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, is included in the Museum’s exhibition Mingdai Xuande guanyao jinghua tezhan tulu/Catalogue of the Special Exhibition of Selected Hsüan-te Imperial Porcelains of the Ming Dynasty, Taipei, 1998, cat. no. 11. Compare also an example in the Shanghai Museum, illustrated in Lu Minghua, Shanghai Bowuguan zangpin yanjiu daxi/Studies of the Shanghai Museum Collections: A Series of Monographs. Mingdai guanyao ciqi [Ming imperial porcelain], Shanghai, 2007, pl. 3-27. Compare also an example from the Sir Percival David collection, now in the British Museum, included in Stacey Pierson, Blue and White for China: Porcelain Treasures in the Percival David Collection, London, 2004, no. 18. A misfired and broken example of this design has been recovered from the waste heaps of the Ming imperial kilns at Jingdezhen, see the exhibition catalogue Xuande Imperial Porcelain Excavated at Jingdezhen, Chang Foundation, Taipei, 1998, cat. no. 23.

Tankard with flower scroll, Ming dynasty, Xuande mark and period, AD 1426–35, Jingdezhen, Jiangxi province. Porcelain with underglaze cobalt-blue decoration. Height: 13,6 cm Width: 12,1 cm. On loan from Sir Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, PDF,B.639. © Trustees of the British Museum

Tankards of this type have rarely been offered at auction. A similar piece, formerly in the collections of Edward T. Chow (circa 1950) and J.M. Hu, and later the Meiyintang collection, sold in our New York rooms, 4th June 1985, lot 2, again in these rooms, 7th April 2011, lot 53, illustrated in Helen D. Ling and E.T. Chow, Collection of Chinese Ceramics from the Pavilion of Ephemeral Attainment, Hong Kong, 1950, vol. 1, pl. 38, and in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, London, 1994-2010, vol. 2, no. 674. Another tankard from the collection of Mrs Wright Segelin, sold in our London rooms, 20th February 1968, lot 88 and again in these rooms 14th November 1989, lot 21, is illustrated in Nuno de Castro, A Ceramica e a porcelana Chinesas, Porto, 1992, vol. 2, pl. 18; and one from the collection of R.H.R. Palmer was sold at Christie's London, 14th June 1982, lot 81 and in these rooms 17th May 1988, lot 22.

Formerly in the collections of Edward T. Chow (circa 1950) and J.M. Hu, and later the Meiyintang collection. A rare blue and white tankard, Mark and period of Xuande (1426-1435); 13.1 cm., 5 1/4 in. Sold for 7,220,000 HKD at Sotheby's Hong Kong 7th April 2011, lot 53. photo Sotheby's.

See also a Xuande-marked tankard painted with stylised blooms with feathery petals, once in the collections of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Cole of New York and T.Y. Chao, was sold in our London rooms, 8th July 1974, lot 188, and twice in these rooms, 19th May 1987, lot 236, and 30th October 2002, lot 283, included in the exhibition Ming Porcelains: A Retrospective, China House Gallery, China Institute in America, New York, 1970-1971, cat. no. 11, and is illustrated in Duncan Macintosh, Chinese Blue and White Porcelain, London, 1986, pl. 23. Two tankards of this variation were sold in these rooms: one from the Su Lin An collection, 31st October 1995, lot 314, and the other from the Pilkington collection, 6th April 2016, lot 22 (fig. 2). 

fig. 2. From the Pilkington collection. A rare blue and white tankard, Mark and period of Xuande (1426-1435); 14 cm, 5 1/2  in. Sold for 24,080,000 HKD (3,104,394 USD) at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 6th April 2016, lot 22. Courtesy Sotheby's.

Cf. my post: A rare blue and white tankard, Mark and period of Xuande

Sotheby's. Fine Imperial Porcelain from a Distinguished Private Collection, Hong Kong, 03 Apr 2019, 10:20 AM

The 88.22-carat, D Colour, Flawless, Type IIa, Oval Brilliant Diamond. Lot Sold 107,993,000 HKD (13,775,587 USD). Courtesy Sotheby's.

HONG KONG.- Today at Sotheby’s in Hong Kong, a spectacular 88.22-carat, D Colour, Flawless, Type IIa, oval brilliant diamond, perfect according to every critical criterion, sold for HK$108 million / US$13.8 million / £10.6 million. One of only three oval diamonds of over 50 carats to appear at auction in living memory, and the largest to be auctioned in over five years, it was acquired by a Japanese private collector who first saw the stone while on exhibit in Japan. Immediately after the sale, he named the precious stone, the ‘Manami Star’, after his eldest daughter. Pursued by three bidders, the diamond eclipsed its estimate of HK$88-100 million (US$11.2-12.7 million) and established a price per carat of HK$1,224,133 (US$156,150). 

Patti Wong, Sotheby’s Chairman in Asia, said: “We were thrilled to handle a diamond of such rarity, which now takes its place in the roster of top white diamonds to have come to the market here at Sotheby’s Asia. Three clients from the region competed for the stone – testament to the strong demand for diamonds of this quality in this part of the world. At 88.22 carats, this lucky stone now carries the name of the fortunate child whose father has chosen to give it her name. A happy moment in the journey of one of the earth’s greatest, oldest treasures.” 

Perfect according to every critical criterion, the diamond has achieved the highest rankings under each of the standards by which the quality of a stone is judged (‘the four Cs’). The diamond is D colour (the highest grade for a white diamond); of exceptional clarity (it is completely flawless, both internally and externally), and has excellent polish and symmetry. As with the Koh-i-noor diamond (also oval) and the Cullinan I, which are part of the British Crown Jewels, the stone belongs to the rare subgroup comprising less than 2% of all gem diamonds, known as Type IIa. Diamonds in this group are the most chemically pure type of diamond and often have exceptional optical transparency. 

Finding a rough diamond that allows the cutter to fashion a stone of over 80 carats is a true and very rare discovery. The 242-carat rough stone which yielded the diamond was discovered in Botswana in the mine of Jwaneng, a mine owned in partnership by De Beers and the government of Botswana and known for producing roughs of the highest quality. Following its discovery, the rough was cut and polished over a period of intense months to produce a symmetrical and striking oval brilliant diamond. Given the elongated shape of the rough the oval shape was chosen to preserve the greatest amount of weight. Great skill and precision was needed to cut a stone of this importance – a level of expertise and craftsmanship possessed by only a small handful of cutters in the world. 

A symbol of perfection and eternity, often associated with prosperity, the number eight is considered a lucky number in China and other Asian cultures. The Chinese pronunciation of 8 (bā), similar to that of 發 (fā) meaning wealth or fortune, is welcomed as a blessing of affluence. In its duality - 88 – it is believed to bring good wishes in abundance. There is also a visual resemblance between 88 and 囍 (literally: "double joy"), a popular decorative design composed of two stylized characters 喜 ("joy").

Lot 3308. An Extremely Rare Jun Blue-Glazed Hexagonal Flower Pot, Early Ming Dynasty; 16.4 cm, 6 1/2 in. Estimate: HK$10,000,000 - 15,000,000/ US$ 1,280,000 - 1,920,000. Lot Sold 12,175,000 HKD (1,568,262 USD). Courtesy Sotheby's.

of hexagonal section, the straight sides flaring steeply to an everted rim, all supported on a stepped base with six short feet, covered overall with a rich cascading lavender-blue glaze thinning to pale olive-green at the edges, the base pierced with five small circular apertures and incised with a shi character (ten), silver-inlaid wood stand.

Lot 3311. A fine biscuit-enamelled sancai dish, Mark and period of Kangxi (1662-1722); 24.9 cm, 9 3/4  in. Estimate 1,200,000 — 1,800,000. Lot Sold 1,625,000 HKD (209,316 USD). Courtesy Sotheby's.

Lot 3302. A rare doucai'Immortals' dish, Mark and period of Yongzheng (1723-1735); 20.9 cm, 8 1/4  in. Estimate 1,200,000 — 1,600,000. Lot Sold 1,500,000 HKD (193,215 USD). Courtesy Sotheby's.

 Lot 3305. A rare incised and anhua-decorated 'sweet-white' glazed lianzi bowl, Ming dynasty, Yongle period (1403-1425); 16.2 cm, 6 3/8  in. Estimate 800,000 — 1,200,000. Lot Sold 1,062,500 HKD (136,861 USD). Courtesy Sotheby's.

Lot 3301. A fine and rare doucai bowl, Qing dynasty, Yongzheng period (1723-1735); 9 cm, 3 1/2  in. Estimate 400,000 — 600,000. Lot Sold 687,500 HKD (88,557 USD). Courtesy Sotheby's.

Lot 3619. A Fine And Magnificent Cobalt-Blue And Iron red 'Dragon' Vase, Meiping, Seal Mark and Period of Qianlong (1736-1795); 27.4 cm, 10 3/4 in. Estimate: 18,000,000 - 25,000,000 HKD. Lot sold 30,175,000 HKD (). Courtesy Sotheby's.

superbly potted with a tapering body sweeping up to a broad rounded shoulder surmounted by a waisted neck and everted rim, the exterior brilliantly enamelled in varying tones of iron red with two five-clawed dragons reaching for a central flaming pearl amidst flame wisps, one rendered larger and in a dominant position, portrayed writhing sinuously along the shoulder of the vessel, the other slightly subordinate and depicted with a more slender serpentine body with its tail emanating dynamically from the whirl-pool like waves bordering the lower body, each mythical beast skilfully rendered with a ferocious expression accentuated with piercing eyes and an open mouth revealing its teeth and tongue, the windswept mane and scales meticulously defined, all against a ground of cobalt-blue ruyi clouds, the recessed base inscribed with a six-character seal mark.

Provenance: A German private collection, by repute.

‘In Pursuit of Wisdom and Truth’ - A Magnificent ‘Dragon’ Meiping
Dr Hajni Elias

The present vase is exceptional for its elegant meiping form, flawless potting and impressive painterly decoration of two dragons, a larger and a smaller beast, writhing between clouds with mouths wide open and eyes intently gazing at the ‘precious pearl (baozhu)’ also known as the wish-granting or flaming pearl. The vase is a fine example of an imperial blue and white ware decorated with iron-red enamel over the glaze. The design of two dragons pursuing the luminous pearl is more familiar from contemporaneous textiles, especially costumes from the Manchu court, such as the jifu (semiformal robe) worn by the Qing emperors, that were intricately woven with renditions of the Chinese cosmic order of sky, water and earth with its many representative symbols. The adaptation of the motif to a meiping, such as the present vase, is less frequent. A better known version of the design depicts not two but nine five-clawed dragons, captured in varied poses amidst tumultuous rolling waves, painted in underglaze copper-red on a blue and white porcelain, as seen on a Yongzheng period (r. 1722-1735) meiping sold in these rooms, 7th May 2012, lot 579. The Yongzheng meiping possibly served as the blueprint for later, Qianlong period (r. 1735-1796) examples, a number of which may be found in museums and private collections. See a Qianlong mark and period meiping with the nine dragon design in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Blue and White Porcelain with Underglaze Red (III), Shanghai, 2000, pl. 205; and another in the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, is published in the T.T. Tsui Galleries of Chinese Art, Toronto, 1996, pl. 124. Another related blue and white meiping in the collection of the Palace Museum, on which the nine dragons are painted in the arresting tone of iron-red over the glaze, is published in Kangxi. Yongzheng.Qianlong. Qing Porcelain from the Palace Museum Collection, Hong Kong, 1989, pl. 8 (fig. 1).


fig. 1. Cobalt-blue and iron-red ‘dragon’ meiping, seal mark and period of Qianlong. © Collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing.

Lot 3620. An Exceptional and Large Yellow Jade Animal-shaped Plague, Eastern Zhou dynasty (770-256 BC); 22 cm, 8 5/8 in. Estimate: 25,000,000 - 30,000,000 HKD. Lot sold 26,575,000 HKD (3,423,126 USD). Courtesy Sotheby's.

exceptionally and powerfully worked in the form of a beast with an undulating silhouette defined with crisp edges, the head of the beast depicted with a long horn issuing along the contours and ending in an upcurled tip, the head portrayed diving far down, as if peering over an edge, further rendered with a prominent and broad snout ending in an arc-shaped tip, the muscular body terminating in a bifurcated tail and decorated with subtle relief on each side with raised bosses, the bent limbs further exquisitely adorned with zoomorphic outlines, incised with two undeciphered characters, the lustrous stone of a yellowish colour accentuated with brown markings around the edges.

Property from the Sam and Myrna Myers Collection

Provenance: Collection of Charles Vignier (1863-1934), Paris.

Exhibited: Possibly: Exposition Vignier, Galeries Levesque & Co., 109 Faubourg Saint-Honoré, Paris, 1913, cat. no. 209.
Radiant Stones. Archaic Chinese Jades/Pierres radieuses. Jades archaïques chinois, Paris, 2000, New York, 2001, cat. no. 108 and illustrated on the catalogue cover.
Two Americans in Paris: A Quest for Asian Art, Montreal, 2016, cat. no. 15.
From the Land of Asia: The Sam and Myrna Myers Collection, Montreal, 2016, Kimbell Art Museum, Forth Worth, Texas, 2018.

Two Americans in Paris: Sam and Myrna Myers*

Sam and Myrna Myers are two Americans who fell in love with Paris in the mid-60s and decided to move there. Over five decades they amassed more than 5000 works of art, offering a very personal vision of the world of Asian art, coherent and well documented. While Paris was their centre, the initial spark for their collecting was the small town of Ascona on Lago Maggiore where the couple arrived on vacation quite by chance. Over the next ten years, Sam and Myrna vacationed in Ascona. It was in 1966 during their first visit that they discovered Casa Serodine, an antique gallery where they met Dr Rosenbaum (1894-1984), an erudite antique dealer who became their mentor and helped them realise that, despite limited means, it was possible to acquire authentic antiquities. Accepting that challenge opened a path which they followed thereafter.

On their first trip, they acquired four small Tanagra heads, but the following year they were enchanted by an Egyptian stone head, which represented a serious investment for the young couple, marking their determination to enter the world of collectors. These initial purchases were followed by other works from the Middle East, Greece and Rome.

Once the thrill of discovery and collecting took hold in Ascona, their passionate search continued without interruption. Wherever they went, they visited the antique dealers, the museums and the fairs. There was no predetermined plan; they gathered beautiful and surprising objects, often unrelated, creating a sort of cabinet of curiosities in which Asian elements acquired a dominant role. Certain pieces revealed their unusual intuition. Without advisers, based on their own taste and sense of beauty, they uncovered works of great quality. Each 'find' was an occasion to learn, to deepen their knowledge and to move forward in new fields.

Paris offered an inexhaustible supply of resources – museums, exhibitions, galleries, salesrooms. Myrna and Sam would visit all of these, discuss the pieces, research the material and train their eyes. Myrna soon understood that it was necessary to deepen her knowledge, especially as they turned more and more to Asian art, and decided to enroll in the Ecole du Louvre, completing the full three-year course, in order to acquire the indispensable tools. With the benefit of solid experience supported by a thirst to study, enriched by visits to the great museum collections in Europe and the United States, their collecting took on its own identity which resulted from the temperaments, affinities and tastes of these two enthusiastic protagonists.

* Excerpt from the introduction to Two Americans in Paris: A Quest for Asian Art, Montreal, 2016.

The Vignier Jade Pendant
A ‘Tiger Plaque’ with Rhinoceros Features
Regina Krahl

This large, masterfully designed, dazzlingly cut and superbly polished jade carving belongs to an extremely small, fascinating group of animal plaques of the Warring States period (475-221 BC). The imaginatively rendered beast impresses at first glance through the powerful, yet elegant rhythm of its undulating silhouette, and at closer inspection through the exquisite ornamentation and subtle relief on both its sides. It is a prime example of the peak period of Chinese jade carving in the late Eastern Zhou (770-256 BC), when jade craftsmen were unsurpassed at making optimal use of the stone at their disposal, had developed a complex and distinctive style of their own, and finished their works to perfection. 

The present pendant has three pairs of companions, all of which stand out from among the myriads of animal plaques carved in this period: One pair, in the Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, MA, is illustrated in Max Loehr, Ancient Chinese Jades from the Grenville L. Winthrop Collection in the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass., 1975, pl. 438 (fig. 1; 19.1 cm); this pair, slightly smaller, has the haunches covered with a pattern of interlocking T-hooks. 

Pair of jade ‘tiger plaques’, Warring States – Western Han period, 19.1 cm, 7 1/2  in. © Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop

A pair in the Cleveland Museum of Art, perhaps the latest of the three pairs, illustrated in colour in an advertisement by J.J. Lally in Chinese Jade. Selected Articles from Orientations 1983-2003, Hong Kong, 2005, p. 197, is discussed in J. Keith Wilson, ‘A Pair of Chinese Jade Plaques’, The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 80, no. 4 (April 1993), pp. 127-30, and illustrated on the cover and in fig. 1 (fig. 2; w. 8.9 and 8.7 cm); here, the animals’ haunches are covered with dragon motifs dissolved into highly abstract, angular scrollwork.

 Pair of jade ‘tiger plaques’, Eastern Zhou dynasty, Warring States period. Purchase from the J.H. Wade Fund and the John L. Severance Fund, h. 8.9 and 8.7 cm, 3 1/2  and 3 3/8  in. Courtesy of Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland

And a pair in the Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, recorded to have come from Jincun near Luoyang in Henan province, and considered to be slightly later in date than the Fogg pair, was included in the exhibition Chinese Art of the Warring States Period. Change and Continuity, 480-222 B.C., Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 1982, cat. no. 96 (fig. 3; 14.7 and 15.1 cm); this pair has the rear haunches covered with C-scrolls, the front haunches with linear engraving, one including a figure of a bird similar in style to the imagery on the present plaque.

Pair of jade ‘tiger plaques’, Eastern Zhou dynasty, 14.7 and 15.1 cm, 5 3/4  and 5 7/8  in. © Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, DC

While all these pendants are very similar, the present plaque is unique for its representational carvings of birds and a dragon on its haunches, which evoke the wispy, curling patterns of the period, which often include rudimentary bird and animal features. These distinctive designs are extremely sophisticated, executed in a clearly recognizable style, but never predictable or simply repetitive. The swift movement they convey would seem to originate with painted motifs, probably on lacquer, but pervades also other media, particularly embroidered textiles; see, for example, painted bird figures in the centre of a Warring States lacquer dish, illustrated in Zhongguo qiqi quanji [Complete series on Chinese lacquer], Fuzhou, 1993-8, vol. 2, pl. 9 and p. 9, and on the sides of a bianhu, pl. 24; or embroidered bird and animal motifs on the famous silk garments discovered at Mashan, Jiangling in Hubei province, published in Zhongguo meishu quanji: Gongyi meishu bian[Complete series on Chinese art: Arts and crafts section], 6: Yin ran zhi xiu [Printed, dyed, woven and embroidered textiles], vol. 1, Beijing, 1985, pls 4-9 and 20-28.

The present plaque is the only one of the group depicting the head of the animal diving far down, as if peering over an edge – a stylistic feature that could, however, have been dictated by the shape and markings of the original jade pebble rather than by artistic intent. The brown markings around the edge of the plaque suggest a very astute utilisation of the raw material. The edge of the plaque bears a two-character inscription engraved in rudimentary strokes, which so far remains undeciphered.

The companion plaques are generally referred to as ‘tiger plaques’. Jade hu (tigers) are frequently mentioned in classical texts such as the Zhou li [The rites of Zhou], and the tiger seems indeed one of the most commonly depicted animals. Tiger pendants are known at least since the Shang period (16th century – 1045 BC) and are very common in the Eastern Zhou. The term ‘tiger’ appears, however, to have been retained for these animal pendants, even when the tiger form was replaced by sinuous dragons, as is suggested by the appearance of the character hu (‘tiger’) inscribed on dragon-shaped pendants (Jessica Rawson, Chinese Jade: From the Neolithic to the Qing, London, 1995, p. 261). A ‘tiger pendant’ could therefore apparently have various shapes.

While the animal of the present plaque may be described in the words of Wilson (op.cit., p. 127) as “at once tiger-like, rhino-like, and dragon-like”, it certainly differs markedly from the usual depictions of tigers and dragons. The most obvious feature is of course the clearly rendered horn on the forehead. The snout differs as well, being much more prominent and broader than usual and ending in a blunt, arc-shaped tip, quite unlike the curled-up or pointed snouts seen both on tiger and dragon plaques. Further, the silhouette of these plaques, with a bulging neck and shoulder section is very characteristic of the rhinoceros and graphically captures the physical power of this massive animal, quite unlike the feline silhouette of the tiger or the slender, sinuous body of the dragon. All these attributes would seem to suggest that the carvers did not have a tiger or dragon in mind, when fashioning these pendants, even though they may have been referred to as ‘tiger pendants’.

A similar but much smaller carving was excavated from a tomb believed to belong to Zhao Mo, who ruled from 137-122 BC, during the Western Han dynasty (206 BC – AD 9), as King of Nanyue in the far south and was buried at Xianggang, Guangzhou, Guangdong province; see Zhongguo chutu yuqi quanji/The Complete Collection of Jades Unearthed in China, Beijing, 2005, vol. 11, pls 81 and 123, and Nanyue wang mu yuqi/Jades from the Tomb of the King of Nanyue, Guangzhou, 1991, pls 52, 54 and 55 (fig. 4; 8.5 cm). This pendant, which formed part of the King’s elaborate jade pectoral, shows a very similar silhouette and has been identified as a rhinoceros-shaped huang in Peter Y.K. Lam, ‘Selected Jades from an Imperial Nanyue Tomb’, Chinese Jade, op.cit., p. 121, huang being the general term for an arched jade pendant. One other related carving, but with almost plain surface and probably also slightly later than the present plaque, is illustrated in Rawson, op.cit., no. 17:13, from the collection of Sir Joseph Hotung.

Jade arched pendant in the shape of a rhinoceros, Western Han dynasty. Excavated from the tomb of the King of Nanyue, Guangzhou, 8.5 cm, 3 1/4  in.© Museum of the Western Han Tomb of the Nanyue King, Guangzhou.

Depictions of rhinoceros are otherwise rare in this period, but do exist. Since the Shang dynasty, bronze vessels naturalistically modelled in the shape of a rhinoceros were created and very realistic examples are known from the late Eastern Zhou or early Western Han period (e.g. Peng Qingyun, ed., Zhongguo wenwu jinghua da cidian. Qingtong juan[Encyclopaedia of masterpieces of Chinese cultural relics. Bronze volume], Shanghai, 1995, pl. 855). Images of the animal can also be seen among other beasts in hunting scenes inlaid in late Zhou bronzes; see Charles D. Weber, Chinese Pictorial Bronze Vessels of the Late Chou Period, fig. 66f top right, fig 67h top right, and fig. 79l. At the time, the rhinoceros was still considered a dangerous wild animal to be subdued, in the same way as tigers, although Qin Shihuang, the first Emperor of the Qin (r. 221-210 BC), is already reported to have sent out expeditions to obtain elephant ivory and rhinoceros horn (Jan Chapman, The Art of Rhinoceros Horn Carving in China, London, 1999, p. 26).

Thomas Lawton (Chinese Art of the Warring States Period, op.cit., p. 149) judged that the “perforations probably were used to secure the plaques to another surface, since the pieces are too large to be suspended or included as part of a larger assemblage”, and the Nanyue plaque, which formed part of a pectoral, indeed has only a fracture of the size of the present plaque and its counterparts. Wilson, however, considers (op.cit. p. 129) “While substantially smaller and less elaborate, this object [the Nanyue plaque] suggests that our jades may also have been part of a sumptuous necklace worn by a nobleman in life as well as death. … Jades of this size, complexity, and quality were certainly made for only the grandest aristocrats of the time.” 

Although buried together with the deceased, such valuable pectorals are considered to represent personal belongings, which the deceased would have worn in his lifetime, rather than tomb goods. In fact, as Rawson mentions (op.cit., p. 259), the tinkling sound of the jade pendants of a ruler and other persons of high rank, when walking – jade being reserved for the highest echelons of society – is often remarked upon in classical texts.

This plaque masterfully conveys the power, strength and energy of the animal it depicts and at the same time is so subtly embellished that it is simply a work of beauty. In the words Wilson chooses (op.cit., p.128) to characterise the Cleveland plaques, “there are few Warring States jades, that approach the drama and quality” of these pieces, a quality that can be appreciated by the amateur art lover as much as the specialised jade collector.

Charles Vignier (1863-1934) was a Swiss-born poet and writer living and working in France, acquaintance of famous painters such as Matisse and Derain, and an important collector of Oriental art, who eventually himself became a specialist on the subject. He was instrumental in making East Asian as well as African art more widely known in France, where he also worked for auctions held at Hôtel Drouot, Paris. An extensive part of his collection, comprising nearly 500 items, was exhibited at Galeries Levesque & Co in Paris in 1913. It ranged from Chinese paintings, over Buddhist stone and gilt-bronze sculptures, early ceramics and small bronze items to Korean, Japanese, Persian, Syrian and African works. Among the six Chinese jades listed in the catalogue are two items attributed to the Zhou period, a cup and an “amoulette en forme de dragon enroulé”, which may refer to the present plaque.

Lot 3629. An Outstanding And Rare Blue And White 'Pomegranate' Vase, Ming Dynasty, Yongle Period (1403-1425); 18.7 cm, 7 3/8 in. Estimate: HK$18,000,000 - 25,000,000. Lot sold 22,015,000 HKD (2,835,752 USD). Courtesy Sotheby's.

modelling after a metal prototype, superbly potted with a baluster body divided into six lobes, rising from a tall splayed foot to a waisted cylindrical neck, elegantly sweeping up to an out-turned rim with rolled lip simulating a pomegranate fruit, the exterior painted in rich cobalt-blue tones in the ‘heaped and piled’ effect, depicting on each lobe a lingzhi spray with radiating trefoil leaves between lappet bands, the neck similarly decorated with three joined circles, all divided by vertical line borders at the ribs, the everted rim and the foot encircled by broad pendent lappets, covered overall in a thick transparent glaze save for the unglazed footring.

Provenance: Sotheby's Hong Kong, 30th October 2000, lot 101.

Literature: Sotheby’s: Thirty Years in Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 2003, pl. 240.
Julian Thompson, The Alan Chuang Collection of Chinese Porcelain, Hong Kong, 2009, pl. 8.

The ‘Treasure Vase’: An Archetypal Yongle Design
Regina Krahl

This unusual form appears to have been produced at Jingdezhen only under the Yongle (r. 1403-1424) and Xuande (r. 1426-1435) Emperors and the preference of this design in these two reigns may be related to these rulers’ active patronage of Buddhism. Vases of similar form with a prominent galleried rim and high foot, similarly decorated with lotus petals and with the same triple pearl or jewel motifs at the neck, but flower instead of lingzhi sprays, are in the Yongle period often depicted in a Buddhist context. Draped with knotted ribbons and holding a triple flaming jewel on top, they are identified as the ‘treasure vases’ (bum-pa) of Tibetan Buddhism and represent one of the Eight Buddhist Emblems. ‘Treasure vases’ are considered inexhaustible vessels and as such symbolize the spiritual abundance of the Buddha. Vases of this type are depicted, for example, on gilt-engraved (qiangjin) lacquer sutra covers of the Yongle period; compare a detail from a sutra cover from the Baoyizhai collection, sold in these rooms, 8th April 2014, lot 38 (fig. 1).

‘Qiangjin’ laquer sutra cover, Ming dynasty, Yongle period, detail. Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 8th April 2014, lot 38.

With its downward pointing rim, the shape is very unusual and otherwise rarely seen in Chinese porcelain. Equally rare is the decoration of lingzhi sprays, pearl motifs and petal panels only. In China, the form is known as a ‘pomegranate vase’ (shiliu zun), probably on account of some likeness of the rim to the crown of sepals of a pomegranate. The form is reminiscent of earlier melon-shaped vases which, however, are lacking the distinctive rim and the splayed foot. Compare a silver vase discovered as part of a Southern Song (1127-1279) hoard of gold and silver wares at Pengzhou, Sichuan province, and now in the Pengzhou Municipal Museum, illustrated in Sichuan Pengzhou Songdai jin yin qi jiaocang [A Song dynasty hoard of gold and silver vessels at Pengzhou in Sichuan], Beijing, 2003, col. pl. 42, and p. 125, fig. 167.

Blue-and-white porcelain vessels of this design are known both without reign mark and inscribed with a Xuande mark. As happened frequently between the Yongle and Xuande periods, examples from the two reigns vary in detail. Julian Thompson, who discussed this vase in the Alan Chuang collection catalogue, states (op.cit., p. 52) that the design of these vases was adjusted when the mark was introduced, and that “the unmarked vases have a more domed mouth, shorter neck and a plain curved interior to the foot, whereas the marked vases have a flatter mouth, longer neck and a distinct glazed step inside the footring”.

Another unmarked vase of this design in the National Palace Museum, Taiwan, was included in the Museum’s exhibition Mingdai Xuande guanyao jinghua tezhan tulu/Catalogue of the Special Exhibition of Selected Hsüan-te Imperial Porcelains of the Ming Dynasty, Taipei, 1998, no. 13. An example excavated in Beijing and today in the Capital Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in Shoudu Bowuguan cang ci xuan [Selection of porcelains from the Capital Museum], Beijing, 1991, pl. 103. Two similar vases from the Wu Lai-hsi collection were sold in our London rooms, 26th May 1937, lots 31 and 32, the former again 16th June 1939, lot 106, from the collection of Major L.F. Hay; one of the Wu Lai-hsi vases is now in the Sir Percival David Collection in the British Museum, London, and was discussed and illustrated together with the Pilkington vase listed below in Margaret Medley, ‘Regrouping 15th Century Blue and White’, Transactions of the Oriental Ceramic Society, vol. 34, 1962-63, pl. 9; another from the collection of H.R.N. Norton, sold in our London rooms, 5th November 1963, lot 163, was included in the exhibition Mostra d’Arte Cinese/Exhibition of Chinese Art, Palazzo Ducale, Venice, 1954, cat. no. 630.

Vases of this design of Xuande mark and period are in the Palace Museum, from the Qing court collection, and in the National Museum of China, both in Beijing, the former illustrated in Geng Baochang, ed., Gugong Bowuyuan cang Ming chu qinghua ci [Early Ming blue-and-white porcelain in the Palace Museum], Beijing, 2002, vol. 1, pl. 100; the latter published in Zhongguo Guojia Bowuguan guancang wenwu yanjiu congshu/Studies on the Collections of the National Museum of China. Ciqi juan [Porcelain section]: Mingdai [Ming dynasty], Shanghai, 2007, pl. 33; and an example from the collections of Derek G. Ide (d. 1979) and Roger Pilkington (1928-1969) was sold in these rooms, 6th April 2016, lot 19 (fig. 2).

From the collections of Derek G. Ide (d. 1979) and Roger Pilkington (1928-1969). A rare blue and white ‘pomegranate’ vase, Mark and period of Xuande; 18.2 cm, 7 1/8  in. Sold for 44,440,000 HKD (5,729,649 USD) at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 6th April 2016, lot 19. Photo Sotheby's.

Cf. my post: A rare blue and white ‘pomegranate’ vase, Mark and period of Xuande

These porcelain vases may have inspired later cloisonné examples, perhaps studded with jewels; see a vase shown to the left of the Tianqi Emperor (r. 1621-7) in an official court portrait, included in the exhibition Power and Glory: Court Arts of China’s Ming Dynasty, Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, 2008, p. 262, cat. no. 149.

Lot 3614. An Extremely Rare Turquoise-Ground Yangcai 'Dragon' Vase, Tianqiuping, Seal Mark and Period Of Qianlong (1736-1795); 50.8 cm, 20 in. Estimate: 18,000,000 - 25,000,000 HKD. Lot sold 21,775,000 HKD (2,804,838 USD) Courtesy Sotheby's. 

robustly potted with a globular body rising to a waisted cylindrical neck and rolled lip, the body superbly and richly painted in bright enamels, encircling the shoulder a mighty five-clawed dragon in iron red, its long curly whiskers issuing from either side of its flared snout, crowned by a pair of prominent long horns protruding from its mane formed from a mass of radiating red fur, sweeping back to its powerful coiling body covered in red scales, its forearm extended to reach for a flaming pearl, striding aggressively amidst multi-coloured swirling clouds and looking sternly downwards at younger subordinate dragon in puce and pink enamels, the younger creature leaping from tumultuous green waves cresting with white foams just above the base, below a band of pendent ruyi heads and an iron-red rim, all reserved against a rich turquoise ground saving for a six-character iron-red seal mark on the base.

Provenance: Collection of George H. Taber Jr (1859-1940), thence by descent within the family.
Christie's New York, 19th/20th September 2013, lot 1391.

From Father to Son’: A Magnificent ‘Dragon’ Tianqiuping
Dr Hajni Elias

The present vase is impressive for its magnificent size and eye-catching famille-rose decoration of a large imperial five-clawed dragon in the company of a smaller younger dragon amidst ruyi-form clouds painted on a deep turquoise ground. The enamel colours are especially vibrant against the turquoise ground that provides a dramatic effect to the overall colour scheme. The use of deep iron-red for the large dragon adds boldness and power to the design when comparing it to the soft pink enamel employed for the smaller dragon. The clouds are spatially dispersed around the body giving the composition an air of lightness and the viewer the chance to focus on the main subject, the two dragons, without any clutter. The painting is also remarkable for its meticulous shading and the layering of the many different enamels, highlighted on the cloud motif, that create an impressive three-dimensional effect. Turquoise ground wares, such as the present vase, were especially sought after by the Qianlong Emperor (r. 1735-1796) who actively encouraged ceramic artists at the Imperial kiln site at Jingdezhen to be daring with their colours and palette combinations.

Depictions of an impressive and powerful dragon in the company of a younger dragon, usually facing each other, in the Chinese decorative repertoire, represent the message of ‘the old teaching its young one’. The proverb ‘canglong jiaozi’ which translates as ‘the old dragon teaches his son’ is recorded in the Song dynasty (960-1279) Confucian reading primer, the Sanzi jing [Three Character Classics] generally attributed to Wang Yinglin (1223-1296), but also accepted by some as the work of Ou Shizi (1234-1324). The Sanzi jing is a traditional text for teaching children, and as its name suggests, it is written in rhymed couplets for easy reading and remembrance. Young children would recite it often accompanied by swaying of the body to give a proper rhythm. It covers a wide range of topics, such as literature, philosophy, geography and history and also introduces Confucian doctrines of importance on education, filial piety, proper family relations and correct moral behaviour. The Qianlong emperor would have used this primer as a textbook when he was a young learner, and thus the message conveyed on the vase would have been one that he would have recited as a young child.

The theme of succession and the handing down of knowledge from father to son is poignantly represented in a painting by the Jesuit missionary artist working in the Qing court, Giuseppe Castiglione (1688-1766), titled Springs’s Peaceful Message(Ping’an chunxin tu) from Qianlong’s painting collection. The painting depicts the young emperor receiving a sprig of plum blossom from his father, the Yongzheng Emperor. In 1782, many years after its completion, Qianlong wrote the following poem on the painting:
In portraiture Shining is masterful,
He painted me during my younger days;
The white-headed one who enters the rooms today,
Does not recognise who this is.1

The painting is rich in symbolism with the blossoming plum sprig representing the arrival of Spring, a new beginning and the moment when knowledge, and possibly power, was transmitted from father to son, the young prince. Father is depicted in a posture emphasising his authority whilst his son bends slightly forward showing reverence and obedience.2 Interestingly, Castiglione used a turquoise-blue shade for the background of the hanging scroll which may well have served as the inspiration for the use of turquoise as a ground for the present vase. The theme of succession of imperial power and handing down knowledge from father to son is in both the painting and the vase, the latter, this time around most likely representing the figures of Qianlong and his son, Prince Yongyan, the future Jiaqing Emperor. The treatment and positioning of the two dragons on the vase emphasise a hierarchical relationship, mirroring what we see in the painting, where one figure represents authority while the other respectful submission. However, whereas in the painting the prince appears to show a youthful maturity as if he is ready or conscious of the imperial patronage of his father, the portrayal of the younger dragon on the vase emphasises its youthful features and perhaps therefore this vase was made early in the life of the prince. 

For comparable examples to the present vase see a tianqiuping of the same impressive size decorated in famille-rose with nine five-clawed dragons amidst fire scrolls on a turquoise wave ground sold in these rooms, 8th October 2010, lot 2700 (fig. 1). A Qianlong mark and period baluster vase enamelled with two twisting dragons amongst clouds on a turquoise ground, in the Tokyo National Museum, is included in the Illustrated Catalogue of Tokyo National Museum. Chinese Ceramics, Volume II, Tokyo, 1990, pl. 664, with its pair sold in these rooms, 2nd May 2005, lot 509 (fig. 2). For examples of turquoise ground vases of different forms and decoration, from the Qing court collection, see The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Porcelains with Cloisonné Enamel Decoration and Famille Rose Decoration, Hong Kong, 1999, nos 115-119. 

fig. 1. A large 'famille-rose''Nine dragon' vase, tianqiuping, seal mark and period of Qianlong, the enamels possibly later; 51cm., 20in. Sold for 6,620,000 HKD at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 8th October 2010, lot 2700. Courtesy Sotheby's

Cf. my post: A large 'famille-rose''Nine dragon' vase, tianqiuping, seal mark and period of Qianlong, the enamels possibly later

Famille-rose turquoise-ground ‘dragon’ vase, seal mark and period of Qianlong. Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 2nd May 2005, lot 509.

The present vase was formerly in the collection of George Hathaway Taber Jr (1859-1940) and then handed down to his family members by descent. The Taber family, from Dartmouth and Fairhaven in Massachusetts, USA, were chiefly involved in local government and mercantile activities. Taber Jr was the son of Captain George Hathaway Taber (1808-1901), resident of Fairhaven, who served in various capacities in town government for about twenty years and was also the President of the Fairhaven Bank. Prior to his involvement in town government, he had been a ship’s captain involved in the mercantile trade. Taber Jr made his mark as an oil executive, eventually rising to become board member with the Gulf Oil Company. He taught himself engineering and became known for his contribution towards the advancement of oil refinery techniques. It is said that his love for Chinese objects was ignited after one of his relatives brought back some beautiful objects from his travels in China. Taber Jr became an avid collector of Chinese ceramics and jades, building up an impressive collection with a discerning eye. He generously loaned and gifted many of his pieces to museums which include the Philbrook Museum of Art in Tulsa, Oklahoma, to form the core of its Chinese collection. He passed away in December 1940 at the age of 81, upon which his collection was split up between his descendants and part of it sold in our New York rooms, 7th/8th March 1946.

1 See Wu Hung, ‘Emperor’s Masquerade – “Costume Portraits” of Yongzheng and Qianlong,’ Orientations, July/August 1995, p. 25.
2 Hajni Elias, ‘Qianlong. The Imperial Collector,’ Arts of Asia, 2006, 36.2, pp. 68-9. 

Lot 3622. A rare famille-rose and tea-dust glazed revolving vase, Seal mark and period of Qianlong (1736-1795); 40.2 cm, 15 3/4  in. Estimate 2,500,000 — 3,500,000 HKD. Lot sold 8,815,000 HKD (1,135,460 USD). Courtesy Sotheby's. 

masterfully modelled from three separate pieces fitted together, the freely turning body of ovoid form covered allover in an even tea-dust glaze, set between a flared neck and splayed foot, the neck meticulously enamelled with stylised butterflies with outstretched wings suspending undulating foliage, all against a densely decorated ground diapered with twelve-sided polygons and interspersed with delicate strapwork, the neck further adorned with a border of upright plantain lappets, each enclosing a floret against meticulously rendered feathery scrollwork, all below a turquoise-ground border enclosing a lotus scroll issuing multi-coloured foliage, the neck flanked by a pair of high-relief elephant-head handles, above a pendent ruyi lappet collar accentuated with gilt highlights, the foot similarly decorated with echoing designs, including an upright ruyi lappet skirt with gilt highlights and a dense diaper ground, the base enamelled turquoise and centred with an underglaze-blue seal mark against a white cartouche.

Provenance: Christie's New York, 27th November 1991, lot 430.

Note: This vase is a true technical masterpiece that exemplifies the great advances made at the imperial kilns in Jingdezhen in response to the Qianlong Emperor’s insatiable demand for novelties. Revolving vases were the last great innovation of Tang Ying (1682-1756), Superintendent of the Imperial kilns in Jingdezhen in the early years of the Qianlong reign, who applied his talent and skills with tremendous dedication to design and manufacture vessels for the personal enjoyment of the Emperor. Aware of the Qianlong Emperor’s penchant for mechanical trinkets and toys, Tang created ever more ingenious wares.

Vases with movable parts are highly complex in both their construction and decoration and involved numerous techniques and production processes. They were an extraordinary challenge for the potters, as each element of their required the utmost mastery in designing, glazing and enamelling to ensure they perfectly fitted together. The present example is remarkably successful in its dramatic combination of an opaque tea-dust glaze with the luxurious palette at the neck and foot, and the detailed elephant-head handles.

A revolving vase of similar form and size, but with the main body covered in a robin’s-egg glaze and the neck painted with flowers against a ruby ground, was sold in these rooms, 8th April 2011, lot 3072. A non-revolving vase of this form, perhaps a precursor to the present example, also with a robin’s-egg glazed centre, is illustrated in S.W. Bushell, Oriental Ceramic Art, London, 1981 (1896), pl. 108; and another was sold in our New York rooms, 31st May 1989, lot 202.

An Extremely Rare And Magnificent Robin's Egg And Famille-Rose Revolving Vase, Seal Mark And Period of Qianlong (1736-1795); 40 cm., 15 3/4 in. Sold for 70,100,000 HKD (8,987,1 79 USD) at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 8th April 2011, lot 3072. Photo Sotheby's

Cf.my post: An Extremely Rare And Magnificent Robin’s Egg And Famille-Rose Revolving Vase, Seal Mark And Period of Qianlong

The possibilities presented by the revolving mechanism were also explored on bowls, such as one which rotates around a similarly shaped ruyi-moulded foot, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, included in the Museum’s exhibition Stunning Decorative Porcelains from the Ch’ien-lung Reign, Taipei, 2008, cat. no. 63.

Lot 3633. A fine and large blue and white 'floral' vase, hu, seal mark and period of Qianlong (1736-1795); 52 cm, 20 1/2  in. Estimate 3,000,000 — 5,000,000 HKD. Lot sold 8,335,000 HKD (1,073,631 USD). Courtesy Sotheby's.

robustly potted with deep rounded sides rising to an angled shoulder and surmounted by a tall flaring neck flanked by a pair of tubular handles, richly decorated in brilliant cobalt tones around the sides with floral blooms borne on a continuous foliate stem, between bands of ruyi lappets around the shoulder and crashing waves interspersed with foam around the base, the neck divided into five main friezes, including two enclosing floral scrolls, two depicted with crashing waves and one rendered with pendent lappets, the handles further painted with crashing waves, all above a border of pendent lappets skirting the foot, the base inscribed with a six-character seal mark.

Provenance: Sotheby's Hong Kong, 15th May 1990, lot 169.

Note: The present vase is notable for its impressive size, fine potting and skilfully executed varying decorative bands, and represents the expertise of craftsmen working during the Qianlong reign. In order to satisfy his own flamboyant taste, the Qianlong Emperor is known to have commissioned artists working in the Imperial kilns at Jingdezhen to make pieces that were highly challenging and unconventional, often placing more emphasis on the showier aspects of production and on the virtuosity of craftsmanship. The refinement of the material allowed for the making of such large vessels, which provided a platform for artists to be ambitious in their repertoire.

The form of this vase required considerable expertise from the potter and is an adaptation of the Han ritual bronze vessel, hu. During the Han dynasty (206BC-AD220) vessels were produced in highly prized material such as bronze and were intended for use during ancestor worship rituals. This reference to archaic forms would also have been much appreciated by the emperor who was a great connoisseur and a keen collector of archaic pieces.

Further reference to China's celebrated past is seen in the intricately painted floral scrolls which were inspired by 15th century Ming dynasty blue and white porcelain. Painted in a brilliant deep blue glaze which reflects the high level of technical achievement by Qing craftsmen, Qing painters employed the 'heaping and piling' technique in the intention to simulate the stippled effect of the cobalt glaze typically found on early Ming pieces.

A closely related Qianlong vase sold in these rooms, 16th May 1977, lot 90, now in the Hong Kong Museum of Art, was included the Museum's exhibition The Wonders of the Potter's Palette, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1984, cat. no. 63. Compare also a vase from the collection of Sir Ralph Harwood, K.C.B., K.C.V.O., at one time Financial Secretary to King George V and Controller of the Royal Household, and believed to have been presented to him by Queen Mary, out of the Royal collections at Windsor Castle, sold in our London rooms, 7th June 1994, lot 358. Another vase of this type was sold in these rooms, 8th April 2009, lot 1604

A Fine Large Blue and White Hu Vase with Handles, Seal Mark and Period of Qianlong (1736-1795); 52 cm, 20 1/2 in. Sold for 4,820,000 HKD at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 8th April 2009, lot 1604. Courtesy Sotheby's

modeled after a Han Dynasty archaic bronze vessel, the robust middle section meticulously painted in bright shades of cobalt blue with eight varieties of large peony blooms, each borned on a continuous scrolling tendril vine with attendant blooms, set between a ruyi head band draping the shoulders and a turbulent wave band around the base, the broad shoulders luted to the body with a subtle indentation sweeping up to a flaring neck flanked by a pair of tubular lug handles, the wave band decoration further repeated around the shoudlers, mouth and handles, with two registers of lotus flowers filling out the decoration around the neck, each containing scrolling foliate vines punctuated by large blooms, the base inscribed with a six-character reign mark in underglaze blue.

Provenance: Acquired in Europe in the 1960s.

Large vases of this type, but with a long cylindrical neck and no foot that derived from Xuande arrow vases, were produced during the Yongzheng reign. This Yongzheng form appears to have been copied by potters early in the Qianlong period before developing into a new form as exemplified by the present piece. Compare a Yongzheng vase similarly decorated with flower scrolls in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Qingdai yuyao ciqi, vol. 1, pt. II, Beijing, 2005, pl. 178; and a rare Qianlong vase of related form but decorated with lotus flowers, sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 27th May 2008, lot 1579. For a Ming blue and white prototype, see a vase from the Qing court collection and still in the Palace Museum, Beijing, published in Geng Baochang ed., Gugong Bowuyuan cang. Ming chu qinghua ci [Early Ming blue and white porcelain in the Palace Museum], Beijing, 2002, vol. 1, pl. 82.

Teresa Hubbard/Alexander Birchler, Flora, 2017. Installation à double film synchronisée avec son partagé. Courtesy Hubbard Birchler

PARIS - L’Institut Giacometti présente un nouveau volet de l’installation Flora du duo d’artistes américano-suisse Teresa Hubbard/Alexander Birchler, en regard d’un ensemble de sculptures et de dessins d’Alberto Giacometti, pour la plupart inédits.

L’installation Flora retrace l’histoire extraordinaire de l’artiste américaine au destin mouvementé et révèle une période particulière de la vie d’Alberto Giacometti.

Hubbard/Birchler, Flora, 2017. Installation à double film synchronisée avec son partagé. Courtesy des artistes

Flora Mayo

Flora Mayo s’installe à Paris en 1925 pour étudier à l’Académie de la Grande Chaumière dans la classe d’Antoine Bourdelle. Elle y rencontre Alberto Giacometti avec qui elle entame une relation amoureuse. Chacun réalise le portait de l’autre. Mais les conséquences de la grande dépression aux États-Unis auront raison des velléités d’artiste de Flora. Sa famille ruinée, elle doit retourner dans son pays, interrompre sa carrière et gagner sa vie loin du milieu artistique, dans des conditions très précaires : elle travaille en usine, puis devient femme de ménage. Alors que Giacometti deviendra un sculpteur mondialement reconnu, le destin de Flora Mayo a laissé peu de traces dans l’histoire de l’art, réduites à quelques notes en bas de page dans la biographie de James Lord (1985), consacrée au sculpteur.

Hubbard/Birchler, Flora, 2017. Installation à double film synchronisée avec son partagé. Courtesy des artistes

L'installation.

La première version de cette oeuvre a été créée à la Biennale de Venise en 2017. Grâce à une collaboration étroite entre les artistes et la Fondation Giacometti, l’installation est présentée aujourd’hui dans une version spécialement adaptée pour l’institut Giacometti, en dialogue avec les oeuvres d’Alberto Giacometti de la même période.

L’histoire originale de Flora Mayo reconstituée par Hubbard / Birchler au terme d’une enquête digne d’un travail de détective, est l’occasion pour les artistes d’évoquer la place des femmes dans l’écriture de l’histoire de l’art. L’installation associe deux formes de cinéma : un biopic en noir et blanc, mettant en scène la relation entre Flora et Alberto, et un film documentaire en couleur, qui reconstruit l’histoire personnelle de Flora à travers le regard de son fils David Mayo.
Par une bande son commune, les artistes réunissent ces deux versions d’une même histoire, instituant une conversation entre une mère et son fils et jetant un pont entre deux villes Paris et Los Angeles, et deux époques, 1927 et 2016.

HUBBARD BIRCHLER, Flora, 2017. Installation à double film synchronisée avec son partagé. Courtesy Hubbard Birchler. Photo Hugo Carmeni

Les oeuvres de Flora et d'Alberto

S’appuyant sur une photographie montrant Flora et Alberto, de part et d’autre d’un buste du sculpteur réalisé par Flora, les artistes ont reconstitué en 3 D, ce buste dont l’oeuvre originale a disparu.

Photographie d'archive: Alberto Giacometti et Floya Mayo avec le buste d Albeto realisé par Flora, vers 1927. Fondation Giacometti Paris.

HUBBARD/BIRCHLER, Bust, 2017. Courtesy des artistes et de Tanya Bonakdar Gallery New York Los Angeles, Lora Reynolds Gallery Austin. Photo Ugo Carmeni

Si l’oeuvre de Flora a disparu, Tête de Femme (Flora Mayo), le portrait qu’Alberto a fait de son amie est devenu une sculpture importante dans le parcours de l’artiste. Elle marque dans son oeuvre une période de transition entre les années de formation à l’Académie de la Grande Chaumière et les figures plates qui assureront sa notoriété auprès du milieu artistique et intellectuel.

Alberto Giacometti, Tête de femme  (Flora Mayo), c. 1926© Succession Alberto Giacometti Fondation Giacometti Paris Adagp Paris 2019.

Une sélection de sculptures et de dessins inédits d’Alberto Giacometti réalisés dans les années 1920, montrent son évolution depuis une représentation naturaliste des modèles jusqu’à la recherche de nouvelles formes.

Alberto Giacometti, Femme debout, 1922 1926©Succession Alberto Giacometti Fondation Giacometti Paris Adagp Paris 2019

Alberto Giacometti, Tête du père, 1927 1930©Succession Alberto Giacometti Fondation Giacometti Paris Adagp Paris 2019

Alberto Giacometti, Femme plate II, c 1928 1929©Succession Alberto Giacometti Fondation Giacometti Paris Adagp Paris 2019

Commissaire : Christian Alandete

Exposition / 5 avril > 9 juin 2019. Institut Giacometti  http://www.fondation-giacometti.fr

Lot 3653. An exceptional flambé-glazed vase, meiping, Incised seal mark and period of Qianlong (1736-1795); 34.9 cm, 13 3/4  in. Estimate 4,000,000 — 6,000,000 HKD. Lot sold 4,735,000 HKD (609,915 USD). Courtesy Sotheby's.

superbly potted with a tapering body sweeping up to a broad rounded shoulder, surmounted by a short waisted neck and lipped rim, covered overall with a brilliant rich deep red glaze with milky-blue and lavender streaks, thinning to pale sky-blue along the rim and stopping neatly around the unglazed footring, the base incised with a six-character seal mark and covered with a pale brown wash.

Provenance: Presented to Mr Gardner in 1908, and thence by descent.
Christie's New York, 17th September 2008, lot 496.

Note: The elegant form of this vase, with its gently swelling shoulders and tapering body, provides a perfect canvas for showcasing the striking hues of the streaky flambé glaze. Jun wares of the Song dynasty were held in high regard by countless generations, including at the Manchu court of the Qing dynasty. The Yongzheng and Qianlong Emperor were particularly attracted by this glaze and commissioned the then Superintendent of the Imperial kilns in Jingdezhen, Tang Ying (1682-1756) to create copies.

The technical ingenuity and high level of experimentation of the potters working at the imperial kilns in Jingdezhen is evident in the successful revival of Song glazes. Tang Ying is known to have gone to considerable lengths to emulate this glaze, even sending his secretary, Wu Yaopu and selected craftsmen to Junzhou in 1729, in order to work with local potters and obtain the recipe for reproducing Jun wares. The official list from 1735 on the Taocheng jishi bei ji (Commemorative stele on ceramic production), inscribed by Tang Ying, records no less than nine varieties of Jun glazes, of which five were based on Song originals that had been sent from the palace in Beijing to the imperial kilns in Jingdezhen.

The stunning glazes that were created at Jingdezhen in imitation of Jun wares were considered by contemporaries even more attractive than the original. Lan Pu in his Jingdezhen tao lu (Account of ceramics in Jingdezhen), published in 1815, exclaims: “the glaze is multi-coloured and has ‘hare’s fur’ markings. The best is red like cosmetic rouge, then comes blue-green like spring onions or kingfisher feathers and purple like ink black… Jun ware red pieces that the ancients made were composed of rough, coarse-grained clay tinged with yellow, and though the glaze colour is lively they are not fine pieces. Today, Jingdezhen selects clean, fine, white clay to mould the body, and then applies red glaze. In this way the red colour has a much richer appearance” (Rose Kerr, “Jun Wares and their Qing Dynasty Imitation at Jingdezhen”, The Porcelains of Jingdezhen. Colloquies on Art & Archaeology in Asia No. 16, London, 1992, p. 155).

Lot 3658. A fine and rare blue-glazed bottle vase, Mark and period of Yongzheng (1723-1735); 33.2 cm, 13 in. Estimate 1,500,000 — 2,500,000 HKD. Lot sold 4,000,000 HKD (515,240 USD). Courtesy Sotheby's.

sturdily potted with a globular body resting on a recessed base and surmounted by a tall neck flaring at the rim, the exterior covered with a rich lapis glaze thinning slightly beneath the white-edged rim and ending neatly above the unglazed footring, the interior and recessed base left white, the latter inscribed with a six-character reign mark within a double circle.

Provenance: Collection of Edward T. Chow (1910-1980). 
Sotheby's Hong Kong, 19th May 1981, lot 5040.

Note: This vase is an archetypal example of Yongzheng monochrome porcelain in its gracefulness and refinement of form. Under the emperor’s keen eye, which was steeped in a thorough knowledge of the antiquities in the imperial collection, a profusion of new shapes and colour emerged which was only possible through the great technical advances that were achieved by his reign.

Lot 3649. A rare gilt-bronze figure of Green Tara, Mark and period of Yongle (1403-1425);18.7 cm, 7 3/8  in. Estimate 2,000,000 — 3,000,000 HKD. Lot sold 4,375,000 HKD (609,915 USD). Courtesy Sotheby's.

finely cast seated in lalitasana on a double-lotus base with beaded edges, the right foot resting on an individual lotus issuing from the base, depicted with the hands held in varada and vitarkamudra, the face rendered with a benevolent expression accentuated with downcast eyes and a gentle smile, framed by a pair of pendulous earlobes adorned with ornate wheel-shaped earrings and an elaborate crown enclosing a high chignon, further portrayed with ornamental jewellery and entwined with long multi-stemmed lotus flanking the shoulders, the base inscribed with a six-character reign mark.

Note: The artists working in the imperial workshops during the Yongle period remain anonymous, but their sculptures have now become recognised as among the most important works of art from the Buddhist world, characterised by faultless casting and rich gilding. Some fifty-four gilt bronzes bearing the inscription Da Ming Yongle nian shi (bestowed in the Yongle era of the great Ming) have been documented in Tibetan monastery collections, see Ulrich von Schroeder, Buddhist Sculptures in Tibet, Hong Kong, 2001, vol. II, pp. 1237-1291. These works have survived in Tibet largely due to imperial patronage lavished on Tibetan hierarchs and monasteries during the reign of Zhu Di, who pursued a bountiful relationship with Tibetan religious leaders during his reign as Yongle (Perpetual Happiness) Emperor.

The stylistic origin of Yongle gilt bronzes can be traced to the Yuan dynasty, when the court espoused Tibetan Buddhism. Early fourteenth century woodblocks made for the monastery of Yangshen Yuan, Hangzhou, are evidence of a new style appearing in Chinese Buddhist art, see Heather Karmay, Early Sino-Tibetan Art, Warminster, 1975, pp. 47-50, pls 26, 29 and 30. The gently smiling faces, full rounded figures and tiered thrones in these woodblock prints reflect the Newar styles favoured in Tibet, and introduced into China by Nepalese artists such as Aniko. Indeed these illustrations could almost have been used as templates for Yongle bronzes such as the Speelman enthroned Buddha, see Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 7th October 2006, lot 808, and the similar example in the British Museum, see Wladimir Zwalf, Buddhism, Art and Faith, London, 1985, cat. no. 305, frontispiece.

From the Speelman Collection. Gilt-Bronze Seated Figure of Buddha, Mark and Period of Yongle, Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 7th October 2006, Lot 808. Courtesy Sotheby's.

Figure of the historical Buddha, Sakyamuni, Ming dynasty, Yongle mark and period (1403-1424), 1908,0420.4. © The Trustees of the British Museum.

 Tara, Mother of the Victorious Ones, is worshipped by Buddhists as a saviour and liberator from samsara, the earthly realm of birth and rebirth. In Tibetan mythology the goddess is believed to have emerged from a lotus bud rising from a lake of tears shed for the suffering of sentient beings by the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, with a face “embodying the delicacy of a million lotus blossoms”, see Glenn Mullin, Mystical Verses of a Dalai Lama, New Delhi, 2003, p. 57. As in Tibet, the cult of Tara was popular at the Yongle court, with at least ten imperial gilt-bronze examples remaining in published collections, including one formerly in the Usher P. Coolidge Collection, see Heather Karmay, op.cit. , p. 88, pl. 56; one in the Art Institute of Chicago, see Ulrich von Schroeder, Indo-Tibetan Bronzes, Hong Kong, 1981, p. 517, pl. 144D; one in the Chang Foundation, see James Spencer, Buddhist Images in Gilt Metal, Taipei, 1993, p. 111, pl. 48; two in the Berti Aschmann Foundation at the Rietberg Museum, see Helmut Uhlig, On the Path to Enlightenment, Zurich, 1995, pp. 146-148, nos 92-93; two in Tibetan monastery collections, see Ulrich von Schroeder, Buddhist Sculpture in Tibet, op. cit., pp. 1276-8, pls 356C-356F; one in the Palace Museum, Beijing, Splendours from the Yongle (1403-1424) and Xuande (1426-1435) Reigns of China’s Ming Dynasty, Beijing, 2010, p. 247, pl. 120; and the Speelman Tara, see one in these rooms, 7th October 2006, lot 806. For recently sold examples at auction, see the Tara from the Tamashige Tibet collection, included in the exhibition The World of Mandala – Tamashige Tibet Collection, Okura Museum of Art, Tokyo, 2005, and sold in our New York rooms, 19th March 2014, lot 86.

 Green Tara, Seated in Pose of Royal Ease (Lalitasana), with Lotus Stalks on Right Shoulder and Hands in Gestures of Reasoning (Vitarkamudra) and Gift Conferring (Varadamudra), Ming dynasty (1368–1644), Yongle reign mark and period (1403–24). Gilt copper alloy with traces of pigment (lapis lazuli), 21.5 × 13.5 × 12.5 cm (8 1/2 × 5 1/4 × 4 7/8 in.). Gift of Guy H. Mitchell, 1925.378. © Art Institute of Chicago

The Green Tara. China, Ming dynasty, Yongle era (1403-1424). Gilt bronze. © Zurich, Rietberg Museum.

Property from the Tamashige Tibet Collection. A Very Fine Gilt Copper Alloy Figure Depicting Tara, Tibeto-Chinese, Yongle period (1403—1424). Height: 7 ½ in. (19 cm). Sold for  1,025,000 USD at Sotheby's New York, 19th March 2014, lot 86. Courtesy Sotheby's

 As testimony to the variety and originality found in Yongle sculpture, many of these bronze figures of Tara are markedly different from one another while remaining faithful to standard stylistic requirements of the Yongle ateliers. Some are willowy and ethereal in appearance like the present example, which is stylistically similar to the Speelman Tara and the Tara in the Palace Museum, Beijing; the larger of the two in the Aschmann collection is more austere, while the Tara formerly in the Coolidge collection has a charmingly rounded figure. All however are finished and gilded to perfection, all with the Yongle hallmark style of jewellery and lotus pedestal. The current Tara is imbued with a lightness and delicacy as befits the sensuous and youthful female form of the goddess. Her hands are held in gentle and expressive gestures of charity and reassurance. And the compassion that Tara is said to have for all sentient beings is expressed in the sublime countenance of this exquisite Yongle bronze