Lot 2273. A Longquan celadon tripod censer, Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279); 4 1/2 in. (11.5 cm.) wide. Estimate HKD 300,000 - HKD 500,000. Price realised HKD 740,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2012

The compressed globular body is moulded with a raised rib at the shoulder which connects to three raised lines running vertically from the shoulder to each conical foot. The straight neck supports a flattened everted mouth rim. It is covered overall in a pale celadon glaze thinning on the extremities, Japanese metal openwork cover, Japanese double wood box.

Provenance: A Japanese private collection, Kyoto, acquired in the first half of the 20th century.

Note: This shape, inspired by ancient bronze li, was produced during the Southern Song through the Yuan period for the domestic as well as the export market. The numerous examples of Longquan tripod censers retrieved from the Sinan shipwreck provide evidence that this shape was much sought after in Japan, the original destination of the ship's cargo, and where they have since been widely collected.

A number of Longquan celadon censers of same shape are published, including several in renowned museum collections. Examples in the Tokyo National Museum and Percival David Foundation, London, are published in Oriental Ceramics, The World's Great Collections, Kodansha series, Tokyo, 1982, vol. 1, no. 97, and vol. 6, no. 37, respectively. Others include the example in the Idemitsu Museum of Arts, Tokyo, illustrated in the exhibition catalogue, Ice and Green Clouds: Traditions of Chinese Celadon, Indianapolis Museum of Art, p. 196, no. 79; The Baur Collection, illustrated by J. Ayers, in the Catalogue, vol. I. Geneva, 1972, no. A99; the National Palace Museum, Taipei, included in Illustrated Catalogue of A Special Exhibition of Sung Porcelain, Taipei, 1978, no. 13; and in the Cleveland Museum of Art, illustrated in the Catalogue of the Severance and Greta Milikin Collection, Cleveland, 1990, no. 6. Other examples were sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 1 December 2009, lot 1861; and 30 May 2012, lot 4233.