Note: Wares from the typesite Juntai in Yu county, Henan province, an area formerly known as Junzhou, are remarkable for their luscious thick glaze of intense colouration which can vary from light blue to deep turquoise blue. It was in the early twelfth century that potters started applying splashes of copper to the glaze before firing, resulting in patches of purple, lavender and tones of deep blue on the milky-blue primary glaze. The form of this incense burner derives from the archaic bronze liding, a ritual vessel from the Shang to Han dynasties (16th century BC-220 AD) and reflects the interest in antiquity amongst members of the educated elite. The literati of the day formed collections of ancient bronzes which were used only on special occasions to prevent them from wear and damage; thus contemporary vessels of bronze and ceramics based on antique models were commissioned. See a related example formerly in the collection of Aizaburo Iinuma, illustrated in Mayuyama: Seventy Years, Tokyo, 1976, pl. 407, and sold in these rooms, 2nd December 2016, lot 527.

Sotheby's. Chinese Art, Hong Kong, 29 november 2018