Lot 3134. A rare Qingbai moulded and carved ‘rabbit’ ewer and cover, Yuan dynasty (1279-1368). EstimateHKD 1,000,000 - HKD 1,200,000 (USD 129,523 - USD 155,428). Photo Christie's Image Ltd 2016. 

Each side of the pear-shaped body is incised with a rabbit looking over its shoulder at a floral spray, below a further band of incised floral sprays and above a band of moulded upright petals. The body is applied with a dragon-form handle opposite to a curved spout emerging from the mouth of a dragon. The cover is carved with rows of lotus petals surmounted by a lion-form finial. Both are covered under a translucent glaze of bluish-green tone. 12 5/8 in. (31.5 cm.) high, box

Notes: Ewers of this type have been dated to the first quarter of the 14th century. The combination of different motifs and decorative techniques such as incising, moulding and sculpting, reflect a heightened pursuit of ornamentation popular during this period.

Compare to two related qingbai ewers decorated with phoniex in low relief on the body, one without a cover, illustrated in Sekai toji zenshu: Liao, Jin, Yuan, vol. 13, Tokyo, 1981, pl. 42, and the second with a stepped cover surmounted by a similarly sculpted lion, formerly in the Meiyintang Collection, sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 7 April 2011, lot 39.

A similar fragment of a dragon handle, excavated from the Yuan remains at Luomaqiao, Jingdezhen, Jiangxi province, is illustrated in Ceramic Finds from Jingdezhen Kilns (10th-17th Century), Fung Ping Shan Museum, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 1992, no. 116.

A rare Qingbai ewer and cover, Yuan dynasty (1279-1368). Estimate 1,200,000 — 1,500,000 HKD. Sold 4,220,000 HKD at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 7 April 2011, lot 39. Photo Sotheby's.

well potted, the pear-shaped body rising to a tall flared neck, supported on a splayed foot with a prominent flange, the body set with a slender curved spout issuing from the mouth of a dragon, connected to the body by an elaborate S-shaped bridge, set opposite with a curved handle formed by the scaly body of a fish-dragon with the opened mouth swallowing the top of the handle, its mane forming a small loop for attaching the cover, its tail fanning out into a large trefoil motif applied in relief, the body decorated on either side with a phoenix in flight with upturned scrolling tail and a cloud motif, cut from thin sheets of clay and applied with incised details, above a band of upright lappets containing ruyi heads, the neck collared by a key-fret band of pearl strings and slip-painted upright petal lappets containing scroll motifs, all beneath an icy blue-green transparent glaze, fitted with a stepped domed cover and a small eyelet for attachment to the ewer, surmounted by a seated lion delicately modelled with a thick beard, long mane, and bushy tail bent to one side, its left foreleg resting on a ball with thin freely modelled ribbons and a bell tied around its neck - overall 34 cm., 13 3/8 in.

Provenance: Messrs John Sparks, London.
Collection of Mr and Mrs Otto Doering, Snr.
Christie's New York, 9th November 1978, lot 125.
J.J. Lally & Co., New York.

Exhibited: The Art Institute of Chicago (on loan).
Chinese Porcelain and Silver in the Song Dynasty, J. J. Lally & Co., New York, 2002, cat. no. 30 (illustrated).

Literature: John Ayers, 'Some Characteristic Wares of the Yüan Dynasty', Transactions of the Oriental Ceramic Society, vol. 29, 1954-5, pl. 38, fig. 17.
Margaret Medley, Yüan Porcelain and Stoneware, London, 1974, pl. 10.
Anthony du Boulay, Christie's Pictorial History of Chinese Ceramics, London, 1984, p. 110, fig. 1.
Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, London, 1994-2010, vol. 4, no. 1614.

Notes: This ewer reflects the quest for richer ornamentation in the second half of the Yuan dynasty, which eventually was satisfied by the introduction of underglaze painting in colour. It shows the remarkably wide repertoire of decoration techniques experimented with at the time, such as moulding, incising, slip painting, dotted surface structuring, application of clay sheets, freely modelled motifs and pearl strings.

A very similar ewer without cover in the Tokyo National Museum is published in Yutaka Mino, Chūgoku no tōji. Hakuji/Chinese Ceramics. White Porcelain, Tokyo, 1998, col. pl. 79, perhaps the piece illustrated also in Mikami Tsugio, ed., Sekai tōji zenshū/Ceramic Art of the World, vol. 13, Tokyo, 1981, col. pl. 42. A simpler version of this design, perhaps made somewhat earlier than the present ewer, was among the porcelains recovered from the shipwreck off Shinan, Korea, which can be dated to AD 1323; that ewer has a similar phoenix design in relief, but is lacking any applied motifs and has a plain spout, handle and cover; see Relics Salvaged from the Seabed off Sinan. Materials I, Seoul, 1985, pl. 67. A similar smaller ewer without cover, from the collection of a Vietnamese Princess, was sold at Christie's New York, 22nd April 1999, lot 256.