Lot 428. A turquoise-glazed figure of a tapir, Qing dynasty, Qianlong period (1736-1795); 21.3 cm, 8 3/8 in. Estimate 600 — 800 GBP. Courtesy Sotheby's.
modelled as a recumbent tapir, the head brilliantly rendered with alert eyes below a pair of upright ears, covered overall with a lustrous turquoise glaze.
Sotheby's. St George Street Sale: Asian Art, London, 17 May 2019, 10:00 AM
Lot 148. Two pairs of turquoise-glazed models of parrots, Qing Dynasty. The largest pair each: 25cm (9 7/8in). Estimate: £ 800 - 1,200 (€ 930 - 1,400). © Bonhams 2001-2019
The first pair of birds modelled standing on aubergine-glazed openwork rock-form plinths, the heads raised up and slightly to one side; the second smaller pair of similar form
Bonhams. Asian At, London, 13 May 2019 - 14 May 2019
Lot 148. Two pairs of turquoise-glazed models of parrots, Qing Dynasty. The largest pair each: 25cm (9 7/8in). Estimate: £ 800 - 1,200 (€ 930 - 1,400). © Bonhams 2001-2019
The first pair of birds modelled standing on aubergine-glazed openwork rock-form plinths, the heads raised up and slightly to one side; the second smaller pair of similar form
Bonhams. Asian At, London, 13 May 2019 - 14 May 2019
Lot 149. A pair of turquoise-glazed models of hawks, 19th century. Each: 28cm (11in) high. Estimate: £ 1,000 - 1,500 (€ 1,200 - 1,700). © Bonhams 2001-2019
Each bird of prey with their heads, beak, talons and plumage finely modelled, covered in a glassy turquoise glaze, mounted as lamps to fixed hardwood stands.
Bonhams. Asian At, London, 13 May 2019 - 14 May 2019
Lot 150. A turquoise-glazed square section vase, Kangxi period (1662-1722); 40.5cm (16in) high. Estimate: £ 1,500 - 2,000 (€ 1,700 - 2,300). © Bonhams 2001-2019
Of tapering form with moulded lion mask and ring handles at the shoulder.
Bonhams. Asian At, London, 13 May 2019 - 14 May 2019
Lot 151. A turquoise-glazed baluster vase, Kangxi period (1662-1722); 41cm (16.1/8in) high. Estimate: £ 1,500 - 2,000 (€ 1,700 - 2,300). © Bonhams 2001-2019
Incised to the body with scrolling grape vines and leafy tendrils, the neck with a band of formal leaf lappets, metal base mount.
Bonhams. Asian At, London, 13 May 2019 - 14 May 2019
Collier plastron de diamants, signé Cartier. Estimation: €200,000-300,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2019.
Paris– Le 13 juin, Christie’s proposera une vente de Joaillerie qui mettra à l’honneur plusieurs collections privées, comprenant 280 lots dont l’estimation globale avoisine les €3,500,000.
Le département Bijoux est très heureux de présenter une collection composée uniquement des bijoux de la place Vendôme représentant les icônes des collections des années 1980. La pièce maîtresse est un collier plastron de la maison Cartier, estimé€200,000-300,000. Cette collection rassemble également tout un ensemble de bijoux dont un grand nombre font référence à l’imaginaire du bestiaire. Violaine d’Astorg, Directrice du département Bijoux a choisi de mettre en lumière cette thématique au sein de la joaillerie, l’occasion de montrer le savoir-faire des grands créateurs dans ce registre et de vraies prouesses techniques, à l’image de cette magnifique broche représentant un coq, serti de saphirs, d’émeraudes, de rubis et de diamants, signé Van Cleef & Arpels. Il est estimé€8,000-10,000.
© Christie's Images Ltd 2019.
Broche représentant un coq, serti de saphirs, d’émeraudes, de rubis et de diamants, signé Van Cleef & Arpels. Estimation: €8,000-10,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2019.
Violaine d’Astorg, Directrice du département Bijoux, commente : «C’est un plaisir de pouvoir proposer une vente composée d’un tel éventail retraçant l’histoire de la joaillerie. Les grandes signatures de la place Vendôme seront illustrées à travers des pièces aux provenances prestigieuses. La vente regroupe également le travail de fabuleux créateurs comme Joël Arthur Rosenthal (JAR) pour la création contemporaine et ses précurseurs avec Suzanne Belperron et René Boivin. Nous sommes impatients de réunir l’appréciation de nos acheteurs qui recherchent ce type de pièces que nous avons sélectionnées pour eux ces six derniers mois. »
Parmi les autres collections remarquables de la vente, on mentionnera celle d’Aimée Crocker, née Amy Isabella Crocker à Sacramento en 1864. Elle est connue pour avoir été l’une des femmes les plus célèbres de son époque. Riche héritière d’une famille bourgeoise américaine, fondateurs des chemins de fer aux Etats-Unis, elle possède dès son plus jeune âge un goût pour l’aventure. Dans un récit autobiographie And I’d do it again, elle évoque ses amitiés avec les artistes de l’époque tel qu’Oscar Wilde, ses relations amoureuses avec des têtes couronnées de la fin du 19ème et début du 20ème siècle, ainsi que ses voyages en ExtrêmeOrient dont elle rapporte de nombreuses curiosités qui lui valent le titre de « The Queen of Bohemia ». Sa vie aussi complexe qu’étonnante, riche, exubérante et cosmopolite se reflète au travers de sa collection de bijoux, constituée notamment de deux très beaux colliers, signés JANESICH, chacun estimé€40,000-60,0000.
Collection Aimée Crocker (1864-1941), Collier signé JANESICH. Estimation €40,000-60,0000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2019.
La vente comprendra également une section dédiée au brillant créateur JAR. Avant-gardiste à sa manière, bien avant ses contemporains joailliers, JAR décide de réutiliser des pierres dures et semi-précieuses, comme au XIXe siècle. «Sur la place Vendôme, on entendait rarement parler de topaze, spinelle, améthyste, opale ou tourmaline rose. Seule compte la couleur, pas le nom», écrit Pierre Jeannet, dans la postface du livre JAR. Ce dernier serti dans l’argent comme au début des années 1800 lorsque cet alliage était choisi pour sa teinte neutre. Les collectionneurs devraient être nombreux àêtre séduits par ce magnifique collier serti de topazes et de diamants qui incarne à lui seul le style du joailler. Pièce unique qui a nécessité deux ans pour réunir toutes les topazes, il est estimé€130,000-230,000. Cinq pièces de la fameuse collection « Ready to wear », en aluminium, signées du même créateur, seront également proposées avec des couleurs chatoyantes et un mouvement très particuliers propres au joaillier, magnifiant le thème floral dans la joaillerie, à l’instar des boucles d’oreille « Violette » et « Eventail » en aluminium sculpté, estimées respectivement €3,000-5,000 et €3,000-4,000.
Collier serti de topazes et de diamants, JAR. Estimation: €130,000-230,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2019.
Boucles d’oreille « Violette » et « Eventail » en aluminium sculpté, JAR. Estimations: €3,000-5,000 et €3,000-4,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2019.
Enfin, le département Bijoux a également sélectionné des pièces réunissant les noms des grands créateurs français, dont les collectionneurs sont toujours à l’affût : René Boivin, Cartier, Boucheron, Suzanne Belperron ou encore Mauboussin, avec ce magnifique bracelet-montre Art déco, tout en finesse, habillé de rubis gravés stylisant des poissons, de saphirs, d’émeraudes et de diamants évoquant un bateau aux voiles déployées. Il est estimé€50.000- 80.000.
Magnifique bracelet-montre Art déco, Mauboussin. Estimation: €50.000- 80.000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2019.
Vente : le 13 Juin à 14h. Exposition : Du 7 Juin au 12 juin, de 10h à 18h. Le 13 Juin de 10h à 14h. Christie’s : 9 avenue Matignon
Lot 25. Rudolf Ernst (Austrian, 1854-1932), The palace guard (Awaiting an audience), signed 'R. Ernst.' (lower right) oil on panel 24 1/8 x 19 3/8in (61.3 x 49.3cm). Estimate: US$200,000 - 300,000 (€ 180,000 - 270,000). © Bonhams 2001-2019
Provenance:with M. Newman, Ltd., London;
Sale, Phillips, London, 19th Century European Paintings and Watercolours, 23 June 1998, lot 49;
Acquired from the above by the present owner.
Illustrated: Tom Verde, A Man of Two Worlds, Saudi Aramco World [online edition] 59.1 (January/February 2008).
Note: Among the most striking and immediately recognizable images in Orientalist art are the Arab sentinels of Rudolf Ernst. These solitary standing figures are typically silhouetted against a window or doorway, the objects of their stewardship tantalizingly unseen. Their meticulously rendered accessories, often repeated from picture to picture and drawn from a virtual library of personal souvenirs, museum pieces, photographs, and illustrations in widely circulated books, suggest an interconnected and semi-fictional narrative that scholars have yet to fully resolve. In The palace guard, a painting which features one of Ernst's favorite mustachioed models, the play between reality and creativity, objectivity and high drama, takes a particularly meaningful turn. In addition to providing a striking example of one of Ernst's most popular themes, it offers insight into his working method, and into his surprising modernism as well.
The man in Ernst's picture wears an abundance of finely tailored garments, featuring some of the patterns and materials the artist liked best. (These pensive figures are often only partially dressed, in order to expose their formidable musculature, or, as here, they are draped in luxurious silks and satins, to highlight Ernst's adeptness at the depiction of elaborately wrapped and layered textiles.) The lavishness of the man's clothing is suggested by the metallic sheen of the threads, the intricacy of the designs, and their substantial volume and weight. Around the man's head is a swathe of white cloth, tied loosely at the nape of the neck to create a simple but elegant turban. The rhythmic arc of its wrapping and its trailing end leads the eye around and then downwards, to the rest of the impressive wardrobe he sports.
The striped blue and white fabric of the man's tailored qumbaz, or ankle-length coat, with its subtle iridescent shimmer, suggests that it is made from Syrian satin or ghabani or roza silk. It is covered by a richly embroidered robe, the interior colors and arabesque patterns of which are echoed throughout Ernst's composition. Across the man's waist is secured an ornately decorated Turkish saber in its scabbard, another familiar motif in Ernst's expansive yet cohesive oeuvre. Indeed, this accessory, along with the man's distinctive pose, are repeated in others of the artist's pictures, suggesting not merely Ernst's own interest in the subject, but its popularity among clients as well (Cf. The Arab Prince, oil on panel, 33 x 23.5 cm [13 x 9.3 in.]). The straight blade of this weapon, as opposed to the more traditional curve of a yatagan or other similar type, suggests the influence of European arms and fashions, and the gradual transformation of the venerable Ottoman guard. Such topical glosses are unusual in Orientalist pictures, and an idiosyncratic feature that would become increasingly apparent in Ernst's progressive art.
Ernst began his studies at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts, of which his father, an architectural painter, was a member. He then settled in Paris in 1876. During his many years in that city, Ernst exhibited at the Salon de la Société des Artistes Français, and made a number of influential friends. His colleagues included the Orientalist painters Charles Wilda (1854-1907) and Arthur von Ferraris (1856-1936), who may have influenced his later decision to travel abroad, and Jean-Léon Gérôme (1824-1904), whose subject matter and frequent Middle Eastern journeys had a more demonstrable effect. (Gérôme's intensely detailed academic style was also of great interest to Ernst; the saturated hues, jewel-like tones, and nearly photographic realism of his works – qualities which were accentuated by Ernst's regular use of treated wooden panels rather than canvases - can in some instances be traced to this influential master.)
In the 1880s, Ernst toured Spain, Morocco, and Tunisia. Later he would visit Egypt and Turkey. Ernst's initial interest in portraits, images of children, and genre scenes gave way in 1885 to Orientalist subjects, based upon the numerous sketches, photographs, and souvenirs he accumulated abroad. An avid student of Middle Eastern applied arts, and a talented ceramicist himself, Ernst's highly wrought compositions may also have benefited from his visits to the several international exhibitions and museum collections in Vienna and Paris that featured Islamic decorative art and architecture, and to the popular, large-format lithographs produced after drawings by the French artist and scholar Achille Prisse d'Avennes (1807-1879) and the British designer Owen Jones (1809-1874). So too, Ernst's interest in collecting photographs of the cities to which he traveled, from both the famous Abdullah Frères and G. Lekegian in Cairo, eventually led him to become a skilled amateur photographer, producing images that were later used for his art. By the time of his death in 1932, Ernst had created hundreds of Orientalist paintings based on this eclectic and revolving library of sources, making him one of the most prolific – and identifiable - artists in the genre.
In 1889, Ernst took part in the Exposition Universelle in Paris and was awarded a bronze medal. He exhibited again at the Exposition Universelle in 1900. Also at this time, Ernst moved from Paris to the suburb of Fontenay-aux-Roses and adopted a more reclusive lifestyle. One of Ernst's rare visitors was his childhood friend and fellow Orientalist, the Austrian painter Ludwig Deutsch (1855-1935), whose works bear a marked resemblance to Ernst's own. Though both of these artists remained associated with the Viennese Orientalist school, they would eventually gain French citizenship and national renown.
In the present work, the numerous resources from which Ernst drew are in evidence, as is his preference for creating imaginative, collage-like compositions rather than straight transcripts from life. The metalwork of the window, for example, recalls the sebils, or public fountains, of Turkey and Egypt, and the windows of the Muhammad 'Ali Mosque in Cairo as well (fig. 1). The interlocking pattern of these particular decorative openings is invented, however, and the thinness of their tracery renders them better suited to paint than to an attempt to construct them by hand. The tilework in the picture is equally rooted in fiction and fact: it references the blue and white walls of Istanbul's Rüstem Pasha and the Blue (Aqsunqur) Mosque in Cairo, favorite sketching sites of the artist, but the likeness is not exact. (For similar tilework, see also Ernst's The Venerated Elder, oil on panel, 92.7 x 71.1 cm [36.5 x 28 in.], and for the tracery windows, see La présentation de l'épée au Pacha, oil on panel, 99 x 78.5 cm [39 x 30.9 in]). This is not a simple historical record of Ernst's travels in the Middle East, then, but an unapologetic assemblage of the interests and creativity that they, often years later, inspired.
We are grateful to Emily M. Weeks, Ph.D., for providing the present catalogue note.
Bonhams. 19th Century European Paintings, London, 30 April 2019
Lot 29. An Iznik Cintamani pottery Jug, Turkey, circa 1570; 19 cm. high. Estimate £ 3,000 - 4,000 (€ 3,500 - 4,600). © Bonhams 2001-2019
of compressed globular form on a short foot with waisted cylindrical neck and simple handle, decorated underglaze in cobalt-blue, turquoise and raised-red on a white ground with cintamani motifs interspersed by palmettes.
Provenance: Private Greek collection.
Bonhams. Islamic and Indian Art Including The Lion and the Sun, Art from Qajar Persia, London, 30 April 2019
Lot 31. An Iznik pottery border tile, Turkey, circa 1580; 25.6 x 16.3 cm. Estimate £ 5,000 - 7,000 (€ 5,800 - 8,100). © Bonhams 2001-2019
of rectangular form, decorated underglaze in cobalt-blue, raised-red, turquoise and green with black outline with an undulating tendril with issuing tulips, roses and other flowerheads, with turquoise borders to upper and lower edges, with old collection labels to reverse.
Provenance: Pozzi Collection.
Jacques Soustiel Collection.
Private Swiss Collection.
Bonhams. Islamic and Indian Art Including The Lion and the Sun, Art from Qajar Persia, London, 30 April 2019
Lot 32. An Iznik pottery dish, Turkey, late 16th Century; 30.3 cm. diameter. Estimate £ 3,000 - 5,000 (€ 3,500 - 5,800). © Bonhams 2001-2019
of shallow rounded form with everted rim on a short foot, decorated in raised-red, cobalt-blue, green and black outline on a white ground, with a spray of hyacinth, tulips, carnations and other flowerheads issuing from a leafy tuft, the border with rock and wave design, alternating flowerhead and foliate motifs on the exterior.
Provenance: Private UK collection.
Bonhams. Islamic and Indian Art Including The Lion and the Sun, Art from Qajar Persia, London, 30 April 2019
Lot 1. A 'Longquan' celadon tripod censer, Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279). Width 9.5 cm, 3 3/4 in. Estimate 15,000 — 20,000 GBP. Courtesy Sotheby's
the compressed globular body rising from three short tapering legs to a short straight neck and broad everted rim, each leg with a narrow flange running up to a band at the shoulder, covered overall with an even matte blue-green glaze.
Provenance: Sotheby's New York, 7th November 1980, lot 153.
Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Eugene Bernat, New York.
Property from the Rui Xiu Lou Collection.
Exhibited: Chinese Ceramics of the Sung Dynasty (960-1279), The Currier Gallery of Art, Manchester, New Hampshire, Exhibition April 11 - May 31, 1959, no. 34.
On loan to the Museum of Fine Art, Boston (according to catalogue entry).
Shiruku R ō do kot ō ji ten [Exhibition of Ceramics from the Silk Road], September 17 – 23, 1981, Art Gallery on the 8 th Floor of Matsuzakaya Honten, Nagoya.
Literature: Kristian Jacobsen and Charles E. Buckley, Chinese Ceramics of the Sung Dynasty, Manchester, New Hampshire, 1959, pl. 34.
Sotheby's. Important Chinese Art, London, 15 may 2019, 10:30 AM
Lot 2. A 'Jizhou''tortoiseshell' bowl, Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279); 11.2 cm, 4 3/8 in. Estimate 4,000 — 6,000 GBP. Courtesy Sotheby's
with the deep rounded sides flaring from a narrow flat foot, covered overall with a brownish-black glaze and splashed with caramel-beige tones simulating tortoiseshell, the glaze finishing just above the knife-pared foot, the base unglazed revealing the buff body.
Property from the Rui Xiu Lou Collection.
Sotheby's. Important Chinese Art, London, 15 may 2019, 10:30 AM
Lot 3. A 'Cizhou' sgraffiato black-glazed bottle vase, yuhuchun ping, Song-Jin dynasty (960-1234);30.2 cm, 11 7/8 in. Estimate 15,000 — 20,000 GBP. Courtesy Sotheby's
the pear-shaped body supported on a spreading foot and rising to a waisted neck and flared rim, covered overall in white slip overlaid with a brilliant brownish-black glaze, the central band around the body with the glaze cut away to reveal reserve-decorated leafy floral sprays, between similarly carved bands of foliate scroll, the recessed foot unglazed.
Property from the Rui Xiu Lou Collection.
Note: Elegantly modelled with a gently flaring neck, this vase is notable for its bold and fluidly carved motif of large blooms and curling leaves, set between two bands of delicately incised leafy scrolls. It is a particularly unusual example as the motif is carved against the buff-coloured body.
Vases of this type, but displaying a layer of white slip under the black slip, are known carved with a wide variety of floral motifs; compare a vase with a lotus flower on the central band, attributed to the Xixia Dynasty (1038-1227), from the Hong Rui Tang collection, sold in these rooms, 12th December 1989, lot 250; one with a peony scroll, in the Meiyintang collection, illustrated in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, vol. 3 (II), London, 2006, pl. 1526; another with a lotus scroll, in the Osaka Municipal Museum of Arts, included in the Museum’s exhibition Charm of Black & White Ware; Transition of Cizhou Type Wares, Osaka, 2002, cat. no. 147; and a fourth vase with lotus sprays within cartouches, in the Ehime Bunkakan, Imabari, illustrated in Mayuyama: Seventy Years, Tokyo, 1976, vol. 1, pl. 596.
Sotheby's. Important Chinese Art, London, 15 may 2019, 10:30 AM
Lot 4. A 'Jizhou''Leaf'-decorated bowl, Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279); 15 cm, 5 7/8 in. Estimate 15,000 — 20,000 GBP. Courtesy Sotheby's
the steeply flaring conical sides rising from a concave base, decorated to the interior with a buff-coloured leaf reserved against a rich dark brown glaze thinning to brown at the rim, stopping at the unglazed foot.
Property from the Rui Xiu Lou Collection.
Note: Bowls with this enchanting pattern of a golden leaf, its jagged contours and fine web of veins providing a striking contrast to the black glaze, were among the most sought-after products of the Jizhou kilns in Jiangxi province. The method of producing this pattern is discussed by Robert D. Mowry in the catalogue to the exhibition Hare’s Fur, Tortoiseshell, and Partridge Feathers, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 1995, pp 260-262, who notes that it is likely that a leaf was adhered to the vessel before being immersed into the glaze mix. During firing, the natural chemical composition of the leaf would react with the glaze, rendering it transparent. It is worth noting that while during firing, the edges of the leaf would often burn and curl, the perfectly articulated pattern on this bowl makes it a particularly successful example.
A bowl of this type from the Ataka collection, Osaka is illustrated in Sekai tōji zenshū/ Ceramic Art of the World, Tokyo, 1977, vol. 12, pls 107 and 108; another from the Hirota collection now in the Tokyo National Museum, is published in the Illustrated Catalogues of Tokyo National Museum: Chinese Ceramics I, Tokyo, 1988, pl. 668; a third bowl in the Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka was included in the exhibition Chinese Ceramics, Tokyo National Museum, Tokyo, 1994, cat. no. 210, together with one with the leaf in the centre, cat. no. 212; and a further example with the leaf in the centre in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Porcelain of the Song Dynasty (II), Hong Kong, 1996, pl. 240.
Sotheby's. Important Chinese Art, London, 15 may 2019, 10:30 AM
Lot 5. A purple splashed 'Jun' tripod censer, Song-Jin dynasty (960-1234); 10.4 cm, 4 1/8 in. Estimate 50,000 — 70,000 GBP. Courtesy Sotheby's
the globular body with a broad tapering neck and flat everted rim, supported on three short cabriole legs, covered with a pale-blue glaze liberally applied with a large single splash transferring from purple to a purplish-red tone, the glaze thinning to a buff tone at the rim and falling short of the base of the legs to reveal the buff-coloured stoneware body .
Property from the Rui Xiu Lou Collection.
Provenance: Sotheby's London, 16th May 2012, lot 86.
Note: This censer is remarkable for its thick luminous glaze that ranges from milky white on the neck to a deeper speckled blue. A large brilliant purple splash enlivens its overall appearance, while an attractive web of crackles is visible at the neck and on the interior. Inspired by archaic bronze prototypes, Jun censers of this form decorated with bright splashes of purplish-red derived from copper, were made from the 12th century. As seen on this censer, the splashes added a flamboyant effect to the piece, often with a strong calligraphic quality that was of immense appeal to the literati and nobility of the time.
A splashed censer of similar proportions, from the collections of Alfred Shoenilight, F. Brodie and Enid Lodge, and the Meiyintang collection, now in the Musée Cernuschi, Paris, was included in the Museum’s exhibition L’âge d’or de la céramique chinoise, Paris, 1999, cat. no. 36; another in the Baur collection, Geneva, is illustrated in John Ayers, The Baur Collection, Geneva. Chinese Ceramics, vol. 1, Geneva, 1968, pl. A37; and a third was sold in our New York rooms, 19thSeptember 2002, lot 79. See also a slightly smaller censer of this type, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Selection of Jun Ware. The Palace Museum Collection and Archaeological Excavation, Beijing, 2013, pl. 29; and another from the Muwen Tang collection, included in the exhibition Song Ceramics from the Kwan Collection, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1994, cat. no. 42, and sold at Christie‘s London, 8th June 1989, lot 49, and again in these rooms, 12th November 2003, lot 49.
Sotheby's. Important Chinese Art, London, 15 may 2019, 10:30 AM
Lot 6. A celadon-glazed lobed bowl, Song dynasty (960-1279); 12.6 cm, 5 in. Estimate 10,000 — 15,000 GBP. Courtesy Sotheby's
delicately potted, the lobed body with five deep rounded sides, the underside with a single incised line just below the rim, applied overall with a smooth olive-green glaze save for the unglazed foot burnt orange in the firing .
Property from the Rui Xiu Lou Collection.
Sotheby's. Important Chinese Art, London, 15 may 2019, 10:30 AM
Lot 7. A carved 'Yaozhou' celadon 'Lotus' bowl, Northern Song dynasty (960-1127); 15 cm, 5 7/8 in. Estimate 30,000 — 40,000 GBP. Courtesy Sotheby's
finely potted with deep rounded sides supported on a straight foot, crisply carved around the exterior with four rows of overlapping petals resembling a lotus flower, applied overall with an attractive olive-green glaze pooling to a deeper tone in the recessed areas stopping around the foot, the neatly cut footrim left unglazed revealing a smooth light grey ware.
Property from the Rui Xiu Lou Collection.
Provenance: Christie's Hong Kong, 26th November 2014, lot 3202.
Sotheby's. Important Chinese Art, London, 15 may 2019, 10:30 AM
Lot 8. An extremely rare 'Jun' foliate-rim vase, Northern Song-Jin dynasty (960-1234); 30.2 cm, 11 7/8 in. Estimate 500,000 — 700,000 GBP. Courtesy Sotheby's
of archaic zun-form, the central globular bulb with a narrow ridge supported on a tall splayed foot, the elegant neck sweeping up the everted rim, the mouth festooned with five lobed, radiating petals, evenly covered overall in a lustrous lavender-blue glaze mottled with lilac and milk-white highlights, thinning to a mushroom color at the rim of the mouth, the glaze stopping short of the footring, revealing the ware burnt orange-brown in the firing.
Property from the Rui Xiu Lou Collection.
Provenance: Sotheby's New York, 4th June 1986, lot 45.
Hirano Kotoken Co., Tokyo.
Collection of T.T. Tsui (ref. SJ1).
Sotheby's New York, 11th-12th September 2012, lot 131.
Exhibited: The Tsui Museum of Art, Hong Kong.
Literature: The Tsui Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1991, pl. 39.
This flamboyant shape, which combines concave, convex and conical outlines and terminates in a dramatic opening, is one of the most complex and memorable forms created by the Jun kilns prior to the Yuan dynasty (1279-1368). The almost geometric construction of this shape is untypical of a potter’s repertoire, yet not obviously following a metal prototype either. It would have represented a challenge for a craftsman working on the potters’ wheel, but clearly was highly admired at the time, since many different kilns of north China adopted it.
It is an ideal shape to emphasize the attraction of the thick, opaque Jun glaze, which works best on surfaces with clean lines, and its tendency to drain to a contrasting transparent olive tone is here effectively shown off at the rim. Jun ware examples of this finely executed, early type are extremely rare, but this striking form of the garlanded mouth, with its five downward-folded lappets and lobed ridges terminating in sharp points, continued to be employed by the Jun and other kilns well into the Yuan dynasty. Vases of this type then often had added handles, an attached stand and sometimes applied and splashed purple designs, such as the famous large Jun altar vase excavated from a Yuan site in Beijing, illustrated in Zhongguo taoci quanji [Complete series on Chinese ceramics], Shanghai, 1999-2000, vol. 10, pl. 205. The present vase might also have served as an altar vessel, although the down-curved lobes at its rim would also have made it a fine utilitarian vessel for pouring liquids.
Many types of flower-shaped rims of lobed, barbed and wavy outline that appear on Song ceramics can be traced to contemporary silver shapes, but the present form is not typical of silver or other metal wares and may rather have originated from forming the soft clay. It may represent an exaggerated form of the more undulating, less sharply defined lotus-leaf mouth popular with Song ceramics that imitates the wavy, curling edges characteristic of large lotus leaves. One metal example, a vase of beaten, gilded copper has, however, been published in a line drawing in Bo Gyllensvärd, ‘T’ang Gold and Silver’, Bulletin of the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, no. 29, Stockholm, 1957, fig. 38d. At present, it is difficult to determine where this type of rim might have derived from, but an intriguing illustration of a flower-filled bowl with a related garlanded rim is engraved on a horse-mounting stone at the mausoleum of the second Song Emperor, Renzong (r. 1023-1063), see Bei Song huang ling/The Imperial Tombs of the Northern Song Dynasty, Zhongzhou, 1997, p. 171, fig. 150: 1 (fig. 1).
Jun ware was made by many different kilns in Henan – e.g. Hebi, Anyang, Qixian, Jiaxian, Xin’an, Bacun, Yuxian and Linru – and even Hebei – Cizhou and Longhua (see Gugong Bowuyuan cang Zhongguo gudai yaozhi biaoben [Specimens from ancient Chinese kiln sites in the collection of the Palace Museum], vol. 1: Henan juan [Henan volume], Beijing, 2005, and vol. 2: Hebei juan [Hebei volume], Beijing, 2006). While many of these kilns, however, were following the Jun tradition only later, often not before the Yuan dynasty, Yuxian, where a large number of individual kilns were discovered, can be considered as the type site of Jun ware. It developed the archetypal Jun stonewares, which connoisseurs included among the Five Great Wares of the Song (960-1279). A fragment of a very similarly formed mouth of a vase, discovered at Liujiamen, one of the Yuxian Jun kilnsites, is illustrated op.cit., vol. 1, pl. 415 (fig. 2).
Preserved Jun vases of this distinctive, well proportioned form, are extremely rare and the only closely related example that appears to have been published is a piece from the collection of Simon Kwan, included in the Min Chiu Society Thirtieth Anniversary Exhibition, Selected Treasures of Chinese Art, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1990, cat. no. 101, and sold in these rooms, 12th November 2003, lot 50.
The form was popular at many other kilns nearby, mostly in Henan and Hebei provinces: a much smaller Ding vase of related form, in the Dingzhou City Museum of Hebei Province, and a sancai-glazed vase of very similar form and size in the Capital Museum, Beijing, are illustrated, for example, in Zhongguo taoci quanji, op.cit., vol. 9, pls 159 and 227. A monumental painted ‘Cizhou’ vase of this form in the Seattle Art Museum, another sancai example in the Idemitsu Museum of Arts, Tokyo, and a black-glazed vase of similar form with white ribs of slip across the body, are published in Mikami Tsugio, ed., Sekai tōji zenshū/Ceramic Art of the World, vol. 13: Ryō, Kin, Gen/Liao, Chin and Yüan Dynasties, Tokyo, 1981, col. pls 92, 276 and 283. The Seattle vase is illustrated again, together with several other black-and-white painted and green- or yellow-glazed Cizhou versions in Mino Yutaka, Freedom of Clay and Brush through Seven Centuries in Northern China. Tz'u-chou Type Wares, 960 - 1600 AD, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, 1980, pls 77, 78 and 96 and figs 206-9 and 279. An unglazed vase of this form, painted with a marble pattern in white slip, from the Eugene Bernat collection and included in the Loan Exhibition, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1947, no. 42, was sold in our New York rooms, 7th November 1980, lot 129.
At other kilns, such as Yaozhou in Shaanxi province or Jingdezhen in Jiangxi, vases with related mouth have a baluster-shaped body with more continuous outlines, see Songdai Yaozhou yaozhi/The Yaozhou Kiln Site of the Song Period, Beijing, 1998, p. 292, fig. 148: 3 and 4; p. 294, fig. 149, col. pl. 8, fig. 3, pl. 77, fig. 6, pl. 78, figs 1 and 2; and Hasebe Gakuji, ed., Sekai tōji zenshū/Ceramic Art of the World, volume 12: Sō/Sung Dynasty, Tokyo, 1977, col. pl. 32.
Sotheby's. Important Chinese Art, London, 15 may 2019, 10:30 AM
Lot 9. A fine and large 'Cizhou' painted and sgraffiato meiping, Northern Song dynasty (960-1127); 37.5 cm, 14 3/4 in. Estimate 30,000 — 40,000 GBP. Courtesy Sotheby's
the slender tapering baluster body rising from a recessed base to broad shoulders ending in a narrow neck with tapering conical mouth, covered overall in an ivory-white slip, incised around the body with a band of interlinked cash motifs against a fish-roe ground above a band of incised upright trefoils, the shoulders boldly painted with large dark brown floral blooms under the glaze.
Property from the Rui Xiu Lou Collection.
Literature: Yutaka Mino, Freedom of Clay and Brush through Seven Centuries in Northern China: Tz'u-chou Type Wares, 960-1600 A.D., Indianapolis, 1981, fig. 61.
Note: The combination on this vase of freely painted floral blooms on the shoulders and the carefully incised “cash” pattern and stamped “fish-roe” is very unusual. While no other closely related example appears to have been published, a meiping that similarly combines painted blooms on the shoulders and above the foot, with incised characters on the body, in the Osaka Municipal Museum of Art, was included in the Museum’s exhibition Charm of Black & White Ware; Transition of Cizhou Type Wares, Osaka, 2002, cat. no. 79; another in the Art Institute of Chicago, was included in the exhibition Freedom of Clay and Brush through Seven Centuries in Northern China: Tz’u-chou Type Wares, 960-1600 A.D., Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, 1980, cat. no. 72, illustrated together with a meiping in the Philadelphia Museum of Art, fig. 187; and a fourth vase from the collection of Mr Nishimura, was sold in our New York rooms, 19th March 2007, lot 126.
Compare also a meiping of similar slender form and carved with the “cash” pattern, but also with a classic scroll on the shoulders, from the collection of Samuel C. Davis, now in the St. Louis Art Museum, included ibid., cat. no. 27; another in the Tokyo National Museum, published in the Illustrated Catalogues of Tokyo National Museum. Chinese Ceramics I, Tokyo, 1988, pl. 556; and a fragment of a meiping recovered at the Dengfeng kilns in Henan province, illustrated in Li Jingzhou and Liu Aiye, Zhongguo Dengfeng yao [Dengfeng kilns of China], Beijing, 2011, p. 94 (lower right).
Sotheby's. Important Chinese Art, London, 15 may 2019, 10:30 AM