exhibitions
SONG CERAMICS & WORKS OF ART 2009 - 29th October to 6th November
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exhibitions SONG CERAMICS & WORKS OF ART 2009 - 29th October to 6th November |
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A RARE PERSIMMON-GLAZED DINGYAO SHALLOW CONICAL BOWL The bowl is very finely potted with thin, straight sides extending outwards from the small raised foot and flaring very slightly at the rim. The interior and exterior are covered with a lustrous persimmon-coloured glaze transforming to a metallic blue-brown around the rim, in areas in the well and on the exterior. Only the neatly bevelled footrim is unglazed, revealing the fine white body. The Ding kilns are best known for their fine white wares, but in the early period of the kilns¡¦ production they also manufactured a persimmon-glazed ware inspired by the colour of contemporary lacquer. For a similar bowl, see Robert Mowry, Hare¡¦s Fur, Tortoiseshell, and Partridge Feathers, no.14, p.107. Price : Sold
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A VERY RARE SET OF LONGQUAN CELADON WEIQI CONTAINERS AND AGATE PLAYING STONES Each bowl is of deep ¡¥U¡¦-shaped form with the almost vertical sides moulded on the exterior with tall upright overlapping lotus petals, supported on a low tapered foot with flat-cut footrim. A thick blue-green glaze of ¡¥Longquan guan¡¦ type suffused with a russet crackle interspersed with a clear ice-crackle covers the exterior of each, with the interior applied with a similar though less crackled glaze. The rim is unglazed showing traces of an applied sheet-silver band, and the footrim is also unglazed showing the grey ware burnt reddish-brown in the firing. The playing stones are biconvex lens-shaped, comprising one hundred and fifty-five translucent grey stones and one hundred and seventy-six russet stones. A complete weiqi set has three hundred and sixty one stones, enough to cover each of the intersections of a typical 19x19 board, but it is very rare that all the stones are used. It is interesting to note that the biconvex (as opposed to flat-bottomed) form of the stones of the present set is typical of those used for go, the Japanese version of weiqi, suggesting that the Japanese game has preserved an older form. Examples of weiqi boards, stones and containers in various materials have been discovered dating back as early as the Han dynasty (206 BC - AD 220). A set of Western Jin dynasty (265 -316) stones with an open cylindrical container, excavated from a tomb in Zoucheng, Shandong, is illustrated in Wenwu, 2005, Vol.1, pl.9 p.9. Price : On Request
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A VERY RARE CHESTNUT-BROWN TEN-LOBED LACQUER DISH WITH SILVER RIM The dish is delicately fashioned with a wide flat central area gently rising to ten rounded lobes divided from each other by slightly raised folds. The underside is completely flat. The lacquer is of rich chestnut-brown colour suffused with a darker tone in places, revealing the application of the lacquer by subtle parallel and concentric lines. The rim is bound with a silver band, slightly wider on the interior than the exterior. An inscription in red lacquer spanning three lobes on the exterior tentatively reads: ª@¦{®}©²¤W¨c¥Ò¤È¦~ shengzhou xu fu shanglao jiawu nian, ¡¥[made in] Shengzhou (present day Nanjing) in the jiawu year (934 or 994 AD) by the house of Xu, superior durability¡¦. For a smaller lacquer dish of related form excavated from a tomb in Wuxi, Jiangsu, dated to the Northern Song dynasty (960-1127), see Nezu Institute of Fine Arts, Tokyo, The Colors and Forms of Song and Yuan China, fig. 24b, p.175. Price : Sold
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A RARE SCALLOPED DINGYAO MOULDED GARDEN-PATTERN DISH The dish is finely moulded in the centre with a pair of dancing cranes in a garden with pierced rockwork and jardinieres. The central jardiniere, set on a square table, is of tripod form with a large monster mask handle to the front, filled with lotus leaves and blossoms. The smaller flanking jardinieres are filled with lingzhi. In the foreground is a tortoise with patterned shell. The well is divided into numerous petal-shapes suggesting a chrysanthemum blossom, and the flat rim is correspondingly lobed, with a further border of impressed overlapping petals. The white body is applied overall with a clear glaze, leaving only the top of the rim unglazed where the dish was fired in an inverted position. No other dish appears to have been published with the identical moulded design. For a dish of similar shape, but decorated with a stag among peonies, from the Neave-Hill Collection, see Jan Wirgin, Sung Ceramic Designs, pl.102b. Price : Sold
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A RARE SMALL QINGBAI CUP AND STAND The cup is of hemispherical form standing on a straight-sided foot and is covered overall with a clear blue-tinged glaze apart from the rim which is unglazed and may originally have been bound in metal. The cup rests on a bowl in the centre of a flower-shaped saucer with six double petals and stands on a tall flared foot. The stand is covered in the same blue-tinged clear glaze as the cup, pooling to a stronger colour where the cup meets the saucer and around the stem of the foot. The footrim is unglazed revealing the pure white body. Price : Sold
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A LARGE SKY-BLUE-GLAZED JUNYAO BOWL The large bowl is supported on a short straight foot, with solid sides curving in very slightly at the rim and is covered inside and out with a glossy milky light-blue glaze thinning to a mushroom colour on the rim and pooling around the neatly cut footrim, burnt brown in the firing where the body is exposed. The glaze is suffused with small bubbles and evenly covers the entire bowl and the area inside the footrim. For a similar bowl, see Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, Volume One, no. 387, p. 220. Price : On Request
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A LARGE CIZHOU-TYPE RUSSET-GLAZED ALMS BOWL, BO The vessel is very finely potted with full rounded sides curving in towards the rim and supported on a shallow countersunk foot with neatly finished footrim. The glaze is a rich russet colour, suffused on the interior with an overall micaceous iridescence and with a soft bloom on the exterior, stopping short of the foot, revealing the fine-grained pale body. Formerly in the Dexingshuwu Collection. Vessels of this type are commonly referred to as "alms bowls" owing to the depiction of similar-looking bowls held by mendicant monks in early paintings and carvings. It is probable from the rich russet colour of the present piece that it was made in imitation of a lacquer prototype, such as the example illustrated by the Nezu Institute of Fine Arts, Tokyo, The Colors and Forms of Song and Yuan China, fig. 31f, p.178. Price : On Request
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A YAOZHOU FOLIATE-RIMMED STEMMED JAR The vessel is well potted with a central section of shouldered ovoid form supporting a wide-mouthed steep-sided neck. The rim is divided by six vertical fillets into six large petal-shaped lobes, each with the tip rolled under, suggesting an open blossom. The stem is splayed towards the foot. The whole is applied with a crackle-suffused olive-green glaze apart from the underside of the foot, showing the fine-grained grey ware. For a stemmed jar of similar shape see Shaanxi Travel & Tourism Press, Yaozhou Kiln, 59th page. Price : On Request
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A LONGQUAN CELADON LOTUS BOWL The bowl is of finely potted rounded form, carved on the exterior in relief with twenty overlapping lotus petals each with a median ridge, originating at the top of the foot and reaching almost to the rim. It is covered inside and out with a thick, very finely bubbled green glaze with a large crackle on the interior and smaller crackle on the exterior. Only the rim of the foot is unglazed, showing the fine-grained grey ware burnt to a buff colour and a rust red colour at the junction with the glaze. Formerly in the Georges de Batz Collection Exhibited: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1953, no. 136 Price : On Request
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A LUSHAN PHOSPHATIC-SPLASHED HANDLED JAR The large globular jar has a short-waisted neck, is supported on a solid, splayed foot with bevelled edge and is applied on either side at the shoulder with a four-petalled floret, the uppermost petal of which serves as a small loop for attachment of a handle. It is glazed inside and out with a thick dark brown glaze decorated with bright blue and white splashes which extend down forming large drops around the foot. The foot itself is unglazed revealing the light grey stoneware body. Jars of this type were probably fitted with a high swing handle in metal, attached at each side through the upper loop of the applied floret. For a similar jar, see Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, Volume Three (II), no. 1376, p. 369. Price : On Request
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