Lot 3132. A rare Longquan celadon tripod censer, Southern Song-Yuan Dynasty (1127-1368): 5 1/8 in. (13 cm.) diam. Estimate HKD 500,000 - HKD 800,000 (USD 64,776 - USD 103,642). Price realised HKD 1,187,500. © Christie's Images Ltd 2016.

The compressed body is moulded with three narrow flanges each above a slightly splayed, conical leg with animal mask, surmounted by a cylindrical neck rising to the flat, everted rim. The censer is covered overall with a soft green glaze of even tone ending at the bottom of the legs to expose the pale grey ware, box, silver cover.

Provenance: Sold at Sotheby's London, 3 December 1983, lot 215

Literature: Tan Dan-jiong, History of Chinese Ceramics, vol. 2, Taipei, 1985, p. 503

Note: The form of the current censer is closely modelled after archaic bronze liof the Shang and Zhou periods. This transfer of form between mediums reflected a trend of antiquarianism popular during the Southern Song dynasty. The present censer, however, has additional moulded taotiemasks on the feet, which is rarely found on Longquan wares of this period, but more commonly seen during the Ming dynasty, as exemplified by two Longquan basins illustrated in Longquan Ware: Chinese Celadon Beloved of the Japanese, 2012, p. 93, nos. 108 & 109. For a Southern Song Longquan tripod censer of very similar form and proportion but of larger size (20 cm. diam.), see an example in the Idemitsu Museum of Arts, Tokyo, illustrated in ibid., p. 47, no. 38. Compare also a similar Longquan tripod censer sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 4 October 2016, lot 119.

 A Longquan celadon tripod censer, Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279). Price Realised HKD 750,000 (USD 97,138) at Christie’s Hong Kong, 4 October 2016, lot 119. Photo Christie's Image Ltd 2016. 

Christie's. Chinese Ceramics From The Yangdetang Collection, 30 November 2016, Hong Kong, HKCEC Grand Hall