Lot 1019. Property from the Collection of Rosemarie and Leighton R. Longhi. A large and rare green-splashed straw-glazed pottery figure of a horse, Tang dynasty (618-907); 67.3 cm high. Estimate USD 40,000 – USD 60,000. Price Realised USD 100,800. © Christie's Images Ltd 2024

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Provenance: Sotheby's New York, 22 March 2000, lot 92.

Literature: L. R. Longhi, Forty-Five Years in Asian Art, Italy, 2019, no. 34.
Debbie Ting Kuo, 'Saleroom News: Sotheby's New York, Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, March 22nd, 2000', Arts of Asia, May-June 2000, p. 115, lot 92.

Note: The green-splashed or dappled decoration on the present horse is considerably rare and likely represents the markings found on piebald horses. A rare, large slip-decorated ‘piebald’ pottery horse is illustrated by R. Jacobsen in Celestial Horses & Long Sleeve Dancers, Minneapolis, 2013, p. 233, where the author notes, “During the Tang period, piebald horses were apparently highly valued for their dappled patterns. Edward Schafer cites Tang stories of a ‘Dappled Horse Country’ (Bo Ma Gua), located in deep northern snow. This may possibly have been a Turkish tribe, the Ala-yondiu – “those with piebald horses” (p. 232).
Another large, sancai-glazed horse with splashes possibly meant to imitate piebald markings, with striped mane and fittings, was sold at Christie’s New York, 20-21 March 2013, lot 2071.
The result of Oxford thermoluminescence test no. C299b60 is consistent with the dating of this lot.

Lot 1020. A sancai-glazed pottery tripod censer, Tang dynasty (618-907); 17.6 cm diam. Estimate USD 5,000 – USD 7,000. Price Realised USD 6,300. © Christie's Images Ltd 2024

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Provenance: Warren E. Cox (1896-1977) Collection, New York, 1959.
Stephen Junkunc, III (d. 1978) Collection.

Lot 1021. A rare green-glazed ribbed meiping, Liao-Northern Song dynasty (907-1127); 25.5 cm high. Estimate USD 8,000 – USD 12,000. Price Realised USD 25,200. © Christie's Images Ltd 2024

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Provenance: Kaikodo Asian Art Gallery, New York, 2000.

Literature: Kaikodo Journal, New York, Autumn 2000, p, 198, no. 67.

Exhibited: New York, Kaikodo Asian Art Gallery, 2000.

Lot 1022. A rare russet-splashed black-glazed truncated meiping bottle, Northern Song-Jin dynasty (960-1234); 18 cm high, Japanese wood box. Estimate USD 20,000 – USD 30,000. Price Realised USD 10,800. © Christie's Images Ltd 2024

Provenance: Private collection, Tokyo.

Note: The glaze on this vessel is a very successful example of the Song dynasty dark brown iron-rich glaze with russet splashes containing an even higher percentage of iron. Such glazes developed from earlier Tang glazes , but the Song potters utilized more refined raw materials and higher firing temperatures to achieve greater contrast and control. The russet splashes were applied in a number of ways, either regularly, as on the truncated meiping of slightly larger size (19.7 cm. high) with sloping shoulders and tapered foot, in the National Museum of Korea, illustrated in Song Ceramics, Osaka, 1999, p. 123, no. 85, or with almost organic randomness, as on a smaller (12.8 cm.) truncated meiping in the Miyoshi Kinenkan, Ashikaga, illustrated in Sekai toji zenshu, vol. 12, Song, Tokyo, 1977, no. 246. The current vase strikes an aesthetically pleasing median between these two extremes.

A black-glazed truncated meiping (12.1 cm. high) of similar rounded form, but with a broader, canted mouth rim, and decorated with small, sparse dots of russet, is illustrated in Sekai toji zenshu, op. cit., p. 246, fig. 106. See, also, the black-glazed truncated meiping of larger size (19 cm. high) and more narrow form and with sharp-edged mouth rim, and decorated with small, irregular splashes of russet, in the Meiyintang Collection, illustrated by R. Krahl in Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, Vol. Three (II), London, 2006, p. 505, no. 1510.

Lot 1023. A painted Jizhou 'blossoming plum and crescent moon' bowl, Southern Song dynasty, late 12th-early 13th century; 14 cm diam., cloth box. Estimate USD 5,000 – USD 7,000. Price Realised USD 5,040. © Christie's Images Ltd 2024

Provenance: Acquired in Taiwan in the 1950s, by repute.
Private collection, Pennsylvania.
Andrew Kahane, Ltd., New York, 31 March 2000.
Private collection, New York.

Note: A similarly decorated Jizhou bowl in the collection of the Harvard University Art Museums is illustrated by R. D. Mowry in Hare’s Fur, Tortoiseshell, and Partridge Feathers: Chinese Brown-and Black Glazed Ceramics, 400-1400, Cambridge, 1996, p. 237, no. 94. See, also, the similarly decorated Jizhou bowl in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Porcelain of the Song Dynasty (II) – 33 – The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 1996, p. 250, no. 228, and the example in the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, illustrated by He Li in Chinese Ceramics, San Francisco, 1996, p. 164, no. 301.

Lot 1024. The Property of J. J. Lally & Co., New York. A Ding circular box and cover, Five dynasties-Northern Song dynasty, 10th century; 10.5 cm diam., brocade box. Estimate USD 4,000 – USD 6,000. Price Realised USD 12,300. © Christie's Images Ltd 2024

Provenance: J. J. Lally & Co., New York, no. 4880.

Note: Compare the white porcelain circular box and cover dated Tang to Five Dynasties, 10^th century, of similar shape with an extended inner rim in the collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Dingzhou huaci: yuancang Dingyao xi baici tezhan (Decorated Porcelains of Dingzhou: White Ding wares from the Collection of the National Palace Museum), Taipei, 2013, p. 41, no. I-22, where the author notes Changsha circular covered boxes with the same distinctive wide rounded inner rim have been found bearing the inscription, you he (oil box), indicating this type of box may have been used as a cosmetic container.

A white porcelain circular covered box with extended inner rim unearthed from the crypt of pagoda no. 2 of the Fawangsi temple at Dengfeng city, Henan province was exhibited at the Tokyo National Museum and illustrated in the catalogue Kentōshi to Tō no bijutsi (Cultural Crossings: Tang Art and the Japanese Envoys), Tokyo, 2005, p. 79, no. 44. Another white porcelain circular box and cover of this type is illustrated by R. Mowry, Peace and Quietude—Song Ceramics from the Qingjingtang Collection, Lisbon, 2014, pp. 168-169, no. 44, where it is described as Xing ware following a silver shape and dated Tang to Five Dynasties. A further comparable circular box with similarly notched cover, inscribed on the base Yuanyou si nian (Yuanyou fourth year), corresponding to 1089, is illustrated by B. Gyllensvärd, Chinese Ceramics in the Carl Kempe Collection, Stockholm, 1964, p. 129, no. 403, where it is identified as Ding ware.

Lot 1025. A rare Cizhou brown and white striped ovoid jar, Northern Song dynasty, 11th-Early 12th century; 15.2 cm wide. Estimate USD 15,000 – USD 18,000. Price Realised USD 21,420. © Christie's Images Ltd 2024

Provenance: Sotheby’s New York, 30 March 2006, lot 45.
Andrew Kahane, Ltd., New York.
Private collection, New York.

Note: The technique of painting dark slip stripes on an ivory-white ground is very rare and may represent the precursor for later Song Cizhou-type black-glazed jars decorated with vertical bands in white slip, such as the jar from the Bernat Collection sold at Sotheby’s New York, 7 November 1980, lot 172. A smaller jar (12.7 cm. diam.) dated to the Northern Song dynasty and decorated with groups of vertical brown stripes against an ivory-white ground, from the Peter Scheinman Collection, was sold at Christie’s New York, 13-14 September 2018, lot 1282. See, also, the cup and saucer decorated with groups of vertical lines and floral motifs in black slip against a white ground, illustrated in Mayuyama, Seventy Years, vol. 1, Tokyo, 1976, p. 194, no. 578, where it is described as Song dynasty Hsiu-wu ware.

Lot 1026. The Property of J. J. Lally & Co., New York. A black-glazed bottle vase, Song dynasty (960-1279); 35 cm high, cloth box. Estimate USD 8,000 – USD 12,000. Price Realised USD 7,560. © Christie's Images Ltd 2024

Provenance: J. J. Lally & Co., New York, no. 4857.

Note: The elongated pear shape of this vase was produced at various kilns in Northern China during the Song dynasty. It appears that black-glazed examples are particularly rare. For a stoneware vase of this form with black ‘oil-spot’ glaze see R. Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, Volume Three (II), London, 2006, pp. 502-503, no. 1508. See, also, a plain Yaozhou celadon vase of a similar form from a Japanese collection illustrated in the catalogue Song Ceramics, Asahi Shimbun, Tokyo, 1999, p. 54, no. 17, and a Jun vase of similar form in the Percival David Collection, now in the British Museum, illustrated in Imperial Taste: Chinese Ceramics from the Percival David Foundation, Los Angeles, 1989, p. 38, no. 14.

Lot 1027. A Cizhou incised slip-decorated ruyi-shaped pillow, Northern Song dynasty, 11th-Early 12th century; 29 cm long. Estimate USD 10,000 – USD 1(,000. Price Realised USD 10,080. © Christie's Images Ltd 2024

Provenance: Kaikodo, New York.

Literature: Kaikodo Journal, New York, Spring 2009, p. 43, no. 14.

Exhibited: New York, Kaikodo, Time Travellers, 11 March-8 April 2009.

Note: The top of this pillow is of ruyi ‘wish-granting’ shape. The ruyi shape is based on a stylized form of the lingzhi fungus, which was believed to be able to prolong life, ward off evil and ensure the vigor of its possessor.

The peony flower has traditionally been associated with royalty, having been cultivated in the imperial gardens as early as the Sui and Tang dynasties, and thus is often called the 'king of flowers'. One of the many names given to the peony in Chinese is fuguihua, or 'flower of wealth and honor', which comes from the writings of the famous Song dynasty philosopher Zhou Dunyi (1017-73). The fact that the peony on the present pillow is shown borne on a meandering vine-like stem is significant. One of the Chinese words for ‘vine’ is man, which is a pun for wan, meaning ‘ten thousand’. The combination of all these elements thus suggest the phrase fugui wandai, or 'may wealth and rank continue for ten thousand generations'.

For another ruyi-shaped pillow with peony decoration, see the Northern Song pillow attributed to the Xiaguan kiln in Mixian, Henan province, in the Museum of the Western Han Tomb of the Nanyue King, Guangzhou, illustrated in Chinese Ceramics Pillow: The Mr. & Mrs. Yueng Wing Tak Gift, Hong Kong, 1993, pl. 54.

The result of Oxford Authentication Ltd. thermoluminescence test number P208c71 is consistent with the dating of this lot.

Lot 1028. A painted Cizhou globular jar, Yuan dynasty (1279-1368); 27.4 cm wide, Japanese double wood box. Estimate USD 25,000 – USD 35,000. Unsold. © Christie's Images Ltd 2024

Literature: Sekai toji zenshu, Liao, Jin, Yuan, Vol. 13, Tokyo, 1981, p. 241, no. 266.

Exhibited: Tokyo, Gotoh Museum, Selected Treasures of Chinese Ceramics, 1966.
Niigata, Niigata Museum, 1968.

Lot 1029. A small moldel Ding 'mandarin duck' dish, Jin dynasty (1115-1234); 12.2 cm diam. Estimate USD 10,000 – USD 15,000. Price Realised USD 40,320. © Christie's Images Ltd 2024

Provenance: V.W. Shriro Esq. Collection.
Sotheby's London, 28 May 1963, lot 61.
William Clayton Ltd., London, 8 March 1966 (part).
Anthony du Boulay (1929-2022) Collection, no. P21.

Note: Related Ding dishes molded with similar scenes of ducks in a lotus pond include the dish in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Catalogue of the Special Exhibition of Ting Ware White Porcelain, Taipei, 1987, no. 93, and the dish from the Edward T. Chow Collection illustrated by J. Wirgin in Sung Ceramic Designs, Stockholm, 1970, pl. 97b, and subsequently sold at Sotheby’s London, 16 December 1980, lot 255.

Lot 1030. A very rare carved Northern white jar, 10th century; 14.7 cm wide, Japanese wood box. Estimate USD 60,000 – USD 80,000. Unsold. © Christie's Images Ltd 2024

Provenance: Hirota Matsushige (aka Fukosai, 1897-1973) Collection, Tokyo.
Shigetaka Hozumi (1893-1959) Collection, acquired before 1943.
Hayashibara Family Collection, acquired in the 1960s.

Literature: Okuda Seiichi, Yokogawa Tamisuke, Okouchi Masatoshi eds. Toki Zuroku (Ceramics Catalogue), vol. 7: China (I), Tokyo, 1938, p. 62, no. 82.
Fujio Koyama, Soji, Tokyo, 1943, no. 12.
Sekai toji zenshu, Song, Liao, Vol. 10, Tokyo, 1955, no. 75.

Note: Hirota Masushige (aka Fukosai) was the founder of the preeminent art gallery Kochukyo in Tokyo in 1924.

This rare and boldly carved jar belongs to a small group of high-quality, 10th-century northern white wares that display strong influence of the Dingzhou kilns in Hebei province. A jar of very similar form and size, but with less crisp rendering of the petal- relief decoration, found in 1992 at the Liao dynasty kiln site at Longquanwu, approximately seventeen miles north of Beijing, is illustrated by Zhang Bai in Complete Collection of Ceramic Art Unearthed in China, Beijing, 2008, p. 56, no. 56. The important kiln site of Longuanwu has also been suggested by William Watson to be the possible source of the celebrated phoenix-head bottle with carved peony scroll and overlapping petal decoration in the British Museum, London. See W. Watson, Tang and Liao Ceramics, New York, 1984, p. 229, no. 273. Also illustrated, p. 238, no. 228, is a white stoneware ewer with similar carved petal decoration around the canted shoulder, which is dated 10th-early 11th century and attributed to the Liaoyanggangcun kiln in Liaoning province.

Very similar petal-relief decoration to that on the present jar can also be seen on a covered jar with canted shoulders, but of taller form, illustrated by Hin-Cheung Lovell in Ting Yao and Related White Wares in the Percival David Foundation, London, 1964, pl. XI, no. 193, where the author suggests the piece may perhaps have been made at a northern celadon kiln in Shensi or Honan province.

Lot 1031. The Property of J. J. Lally & Co., New York. A small glazed white porcelain box and cover, Northern Song dynasty (960-1127); 8.3 cm diam., cloth box. Estimate USD 6,000 – USD 8,000. Price Realised USD 6,300. © Christie's Images Ltd 2024

Provenance: J. J. Lally & Co., New York, no. 4845.

Note: Boxes of this shape can also be found in Ding ware. A Ding box and cover of similar shape is illustrated by R. Krahl in Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, Volume Three (II), London, 2006, p. 435, no. 1433, where the author cites a similar box and cover discovered in 1985 amongst a group of Ding white porcelains from a tomb at Nanxinzhuang, Haidian district, Beijing municipality, dated to the early Jin period (1125-1160).

Lot 1032. A rare carved Yaozhou celadon bowl, Northern Song-Jin dynasty, 12h-13th century; 18.8 cm diam., Japanese wood box. Estimate USD 10,000 – USD 15,000. Unsold. © Christie's Images Ltd 2024

Provenance: Kochukyo, Tokyo, February 2000.
Kaikodo, New York.

Literature: Kaikodo Journal, New York, Spring 2016, no. 10.

Exhibited: New York, Kaikodo, Embracing Antiquity, 10 March-22 April 2016.

Note: A Yaozhou celadon bowl carved with a very similar design is illustrated by Robert D. Mowry in Peace and Quietude – Song Ceramics from the Qingjingtang Collection, Macao, 2014, pp. 144-45, no. 27.
The result of Oxford thermoluminescence test no.P112k37 is consistent with the dating of this lot.

Lot 1033. The Property of J. J. Lally & Co., New York. A carved Ding 'daylily' bowl, Northern Song-Jin dynasty (960-1234); 20.7 cm diam., cloth box. Estimate USD 20,000 – USD 30,000. Price Realised USD 12,600. © Christie's Images Ltd 2024

Provenance: J. J. Lally & Co., New York, no. 4739.

Note: A very similar Ding 'daylily' bowl, but with a band at the rim, from the Qing Court Collection and now in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - 32 - Porcelain of the Song Dynasty (I), Hong Kong, 1996, p. 60, no. 52. Another Ding bowl carved with a daylily spray on the interior is in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, and illustrated in Dingzhou huaci: yuancang Dingyao xi baici tezhan (Decorated Porcelains of Dingzhou: White Ding Wares from the Collection of the National Palace Museum), Taipei, 2013, p. 93, no. II-46.
The result of C-Link thermoluminescence test no. 1433ZA08 is consistent with the dating of this bowl.

Lot 1034. A incised Qingbai 'fish and waves' bowl, Southern Song dynasty, 12th century; 19.9 cm diam., cloth box. Estimate USD 6,000 – USD 8,000. Price Realised USD 6,300. © Christie's Images Ltd 2024

Provenance: Kaikodo, New York.

Literature: Kaikodo Journal, New York, Autumn 1998, p. 160, no. 63.

Exhibited: New York, Kaikodo, A Garden Show, 14 September-24 October 1998.

Note: It is rare to find fish used in the designs of incised qingbai wares. A qingbai bowl incised with a pair of fish on a combed wave ground, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in Song Yuan Qingbai ci, Tokyo and Shanghai, 1984, figs. 106 and 107.

Lot 1035. The Property of J. J. Lally & Co., New York. A Longquan celadon brush washer, Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279); 13.4 cm diam., Japanese wood box. Estimate USD 7,000 – USD 9,000. Price Realised USD 13,860. © Christie's Images Ltd 2024

Provenance: Private collection, New York.
J. J. Lally & Co., New York, no. 4721.

Note: Similar Longquan celadon brush washers are in museum collections such as the Percival David Foundation, illustrated by W. Watson and S. Pierson in Illustrated Catalogue of Celadon Wares in the Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, London, 1997, p. 34, col. pl. 284. See, also, one in the Art Institute of Chicago from the Tyson Collection, illustrated by Y. Mino and K. Tsiang in Ice and Green Clouds: Traditions of Chinese Celadon, Indianapolis, 1986, pp. 178-179, no. 71.

Lot 1036. A rare Qingbai brush washer, Southern Song-Yuan dynasty (1127-1368); 15.4 cm diam. Estimate USD 5,000 – USD 7,000. Price Realised USD 55,440. © Christie's Images Ltd 2024

Provenance: Priestley and Ferraro, London, 2017.

Literature: Priestley and Ferraro, London, Autumn 2017, no. 2.

Exhibited: London, Priestley and Ferraro, Autumn 2017.

Lot 1037. The Property of J. J. Lally & Co., New York. A rare Qingbai foliate dish, Yuan dynasty, early 14th century; 14.4 cm diam., cloth box. Estimate USD 6,000 – USD 8,000. Price Realised USD 37,800. © Christie's Images Ltd 2024

Provenance: J. J. Lally & Co., New York, no. 4855.

Note: Qingbai ceramics with finely beaded decoration, such as that seen on this delicate dish, were produced in the early 14th century. The applied 'pearls' in underglaze slip most often adorn cups, vases and figures; dishes are rare to find with this decoration. In Yuan Porcelain and Stoneware, London, 1974, M. Medley illustrates a group of these wares, including a cup, stem cup, vase on stand and ewer (pls. 8a-10).

A very similar qingbai porcelain foliate dish is in the collection of the Baltimore Museum of Art and illustrated by F. Klapthor, Chinese Ceramics from the Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, 1993, p. 39, no. 27.

The scene depicted on this dish may refer to a popular Yuan dynasty zaju drama, At Dongting Lake Liu Yi Delivers a Letter (Dongting hu Liu Yi chuan shu), showing the scholar Liu Yi meeting San Niang herding sheep by the Jing River.

Lot 1040. A Longquan celadon bowl, Ming dynasty, 4th century; 16.5cm diam., Japanese wood box Estimate USD 6,000 – USD 8,000. Price Realised USD 7,560. © Christie's Images Ltd 2024

Provenance: Private collection, Japan, acquired in the early 20th century.

Lot 1041. Property from an Important Private New York Collection. A large carved Longquan celadon 'peony' dish, Ming dynasty (1368-1644); 40.6 cm diam., Japanese wood box. Estimate USD 3,000 – USD 5,000. Price Realised USD 4,032. © Christie's Images Ltd 2024

Lot 1043. A large two-part sancai-glazed 'dragon' tile, Ming dynasty (1368-1644); 51.5 cm long, each. Estimate USD 8,000 – USD 12,000. Price Realised USD 11,340. © Christie's Images Ltd 2024

Provenance: Private collection, San Francisco, acquired in Hong Kong in 1990, by repute.

Note: A related Ming two-part tile, but with the head of the dragon turned sharply around to face backwards, was sold at Christie’s New York, 14 September 2018, lot 1332. See, also, the similar Ming two-part ‘dragon’ tile, but glazed in turquoise, aubergine and yellow, sold at Sotheby’s New York, 29 March 2022, lot 629.

Christie's. Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, New York, 19-20 September 2024