An extremely rare 'Number Ten' Jun rectangular jardinière, Yuan-Early Ming dynasty, 14th-15th century

Lot 541. An extremely rare 'Number Ten' Jun rectangular jardinière, Yuan-Early Ming dynasty, 14th-15th century; 6 ¾ in. (17.2 cm.) long. Estimate USD 70,000 - USD 90,000. Price realised USD 200,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2018

The jardinière is thickly potted with shallow sides rising to a flat, everted rim with a raised outer edge, and is supported on four cabriole legs joined by bracket-shaped aprons. The vessel is covered overall with a pale, milky blue glaze which thins to mushroom at the edges. The base is applied with a thin brownish glaze and incised with the character shi (ten), Japanese wood box. 

Provenance: George Eumorfopoulos Collection (according to label).
Burchard Galleries, Berlin, June 1927.
Christie's Amsterdam, 31 October 2006, lot 482.

Literature: Christie's, The Classic Age of Chinese Ceramics: An Exhibition of Song Treasures from the Linyushanren Collection, Hong Kong, 2012, pp. 74-75, no. 22.

Exhibited: Christie's, The Classic Age of Chinese Ceramics: An Exhibition of Song Treasures from the Linyushanren Collection, Hong Kong, 22 to 27 November 2012; New York, 15 to 20 March 2013; London, 10 to 14 May 2013.

Note: The present jardinière is part of a celebrated group of ‘numbered’ Jun wares, of which lot 542 is also an example. Similar to lot 542, the present rectangular jardinière likely functioned as the stand for a taller flower pot of corresponding form. 

A rectangular jardinière of similar size from the Schiller Collection, also inscribed with the number shi (ten) but with ruyi-shaped feet, is now in the Bristol City Art Gallery and is illustrated by Hobson and Hetherington, The Art of the Chinese Potter," p. XXXIII, fig. 1; and another with a lavender-tinged sky-blue glaze, and inscribed with the number jiu (nine), is in the Qing Court Collection and illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - 32 - Porcelain of the Song Dynasty (I), Hong Kong, 1996, p. 23, no. 19. A rectangular jardinière with the number shi (ten) from the collection of Robert Chang was sold at Christie’s New York, 21 March 2002, lot 149.

A rectangular jardinière complete with a matching, tapering rectangular flower pot, in the Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, is illustrated in Oriental Ceramics, The World's Great Collections, Tokyo, 1982, vol. 6, no. 49. A tapering, rectangular flower pot in the Qing Court Collection, inscribed with the number shi (ten) and therefore apparently intended to be paired with a jardinière such as the present example, is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - 32 - Porcelain of the Song Dynasty (I), Hong Kong, 1996, p. 22, no. 18. 

Official Jun ware Rectangular flower pot 'Number 十 shi', Ming dynasty, about AD 1368–1435, Juntai, Yuxian, Henan province. Stoneware body covered in blue and purple glazes with olive-green on base. Sir Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, PDF.96. © 2017 Trustees of the British Museum 

A 'Number shi (ten)' Jun rectangular jardinière, Yuan-Early Ming dynasty, 14th-15th century, Qing Court Collection, Palace Museum