Lot 2801. A fine and very rare Longquan celadon cylindrical vase, Southern Song dynasty (1127–1279); 7 in. (17.8 cm.) high. Estimate HKD 4,000,000 - HKD 6,000,000. Price realised HKD 3,725,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2020.

The vase is thinly potted in an elegant, tapering cylindrical form, covered inside and out with a widely crackled, luminous glaze of soft blue-green tone with the exception of the foot ring revealing the fine biscuit body.

Provenance: An unnamed Japanese temple collection
Acquired from the temple by Mr. Noda Chuemon circa 1860-1880 during the Meiji Restoration
Passed down to Mr. Noda Chuemon’s son Noda Yoshiemon, who gifted the vase to his daughter, Noda Misayo, as a wedding present circa 1930s
Thence by descent to the current owner, Mr Noda Chuemon’s great-great grandson.

Note: The current vase was preserved in a temple in Japan until circa 1860-1880 during the Meiji Restoration, when Mr Noda Chuemon acquired it. Mr. Noda Chuemon, who was born in the latter part of the Edo period (1603-1868), was attempting to support the temple during the period of haibutsu kishaku (1868-1874), when there was a movement against Buddhism and towards establishing Shinto as the state religion. The vase later passed into the possession of Noda Chuemon’s son, Mr. Noda Yoshiemon, who, in turn, gave the vase to his daughter, Noda Misayo, on the occasion of her marriage in the 1930s. The vase was eventually passed down to the current owner, who is Mr. Noda Chuemon’s great-great grandson.

REVERED ELEGANCE – A VERY RARE SONG DYNASTY VASE
Rosemary Scott
Senior International Academic Consultant

This exceptionally beautiful vase belongs to an extremely rare group of Southern Song cylindrical celadon vases, which appear to have been especially treasured in Japan for use in the tea ceremony. Such vessels are without either complex shape or distracting decoration, which serves to highlight the exquisite colour and texture of the glaze. The glaze on this particular vase is an especially fine example of the Longquan celadon glaze known as kinuta celadon in Japan. While this name literally refers to a mallet-shape, it has come to denote the most prized of Longquan glazes. Cylindrical celadon vases of this type were particularly admired and were used to hold flower arrangements displayed at Japanese tea ceremonies.

These flower arrangements chabana provided one of the focuses of attention for those attending a tea gathering, and were usually displayed in the alcove (tokonoma), which housed items used to set the theme of a particular gathering. There would often be a kakemono – a hanging scroll with calligraphy or painting in the tokonama. The vase of flowers would either be placed with the hanging scroll and would complement it, or in certain circumstances the hanging scroll might be displayed for one part of the tea ceremony and the flowers for another. The style of flower arranging for the tea ceremony is known as nageire or ‘thrown in’ style, which developed over time from ikebana (arranging flowers), which in turn had its origins in the flower offerings of early Buddhism. Chabana developed alongside wabi-cha (wabi tea, which emphasised simplicity) in the Momoyama Period (1573–1615), with Sen no Rikyū (1522–1591) as its most influential exponent. Chabana were specifically the flowers appropriate to accompany the tea ceremony, and certain flowers were not deemed suitable – such as those with strong fragrances, those with unpleasant names, those with blooms which lasted too long, or those which were not clearly associated with a particular season. However, it was not only the flowers themselves which had to be carefully chosen and appropriate to the venue of the tea gathering, but also the containers in which they were displayed. Containers could be made of a range of different materials, but the deceptively simple grace of Chinese celadon cylindrical vases, together with their place as treasured karamono, would have greatly appealed to Japanese tea masters.

Chinese ceramics had been appreciated by the Japanese elite since the Tang dynasty, and with the advent of the Southern Song period came an increased enthusiasm for Chinese art amongst Japanese collectors. Indeed, Professor Hiroko Nishida has written that in the Kamakura period (1185-1392): ‘... the majority of the art and decorative art objects used in the ceremonies, interior decoration and tea drinking events of Buddhist Temples and the military class were objects imported from China.’ (Hiroko Nishida, ‘The Collection and Appreciation of Chinese Art Objects in 15th-16th Century Japan, and their Legacy’, Collecting Chinese Art: Interpretation and Display, Colloquies on Art & Archaeology in Asia, No. 20, S. Pierson ed., London, 2000, p.10.) These objects were called karamono (Tang [Chinese] things). Excavated evidence for their popularity can be found in profusion in the large quantities of Song and Yuan dynasty celadon-glazed ceramic sherds that littered the coastline by Kamakura city. In addition to the Kamakura sherds, Longquan celadons, qingbai white porcelains, and black-glazed tea bowls have been excavated from a wide range of historical sites throughout Japan. Significant numbers of Song and Yuan dynasty sherds have been excavated at the Ichijo-dani一site in Fukui prefecture, the Kusado sengen site in Hiroshima, several sites in Kyoto, and the port city of Hakata. Some of the major Japanese temples also still have in their possession Song dynasty Chinese ceramics preserved since the time of their manufacture. 

The Japanese fascination with Chinese ceramics grew even stronger in the Yuan period. The numbers and high quality of celadons and other Chinese ceramics imported into Japan can be seen from the wealth of material which is still preserved there today. It is clear that karamono were still greatly in vogue in the Yuan period. A letter survives written by Kanazawa Sada-aki, who died in 1333 and was a relative of the Hōjō clan, who were the military rulers of the Kanto region. It includes a passage reading: ‘The Chinese boats have arrived, a large amount of karamono cargo was unloaded.’ While in another letter written to his son, Sada-aki noted: ‘It seems that karamono are the fashion in Kyoto, I definitely want you to plan on bringing some karamono when you return to Kanto.’ (see Hiroko Nishida, op. cit.) In view of his enthusiasm for Chinese wares, it is not surprising that a Longquan lidded celadon jar was found in Kanazawa Sada-aki’s grave, used as an ossuary, and that the Shomyo-ji (the temple in which Sada-aki’s grave is situated) still has two large Chinese celadon vases and a large incense burner with applied relief decoration.

Major temples, such as the Engaku-ji and Kencho-ji at Kamakura still use celadon vases preserved in the temples since the Kamakura (AD 1185-1333) and Muromachi (AD 1333-1573) periods. Not only Chinese celadon flower vases but also Chinese celadon incense burners and tea bowls, as well as black-glazed wares and qingbai porcelains are listed among the approximately 100 Chinese objects in the famous inventory of Butsunichi-an, which is dated AD 1363 and is an inventory of items donated to a sub-temple of the Engaku-ji by Hōjō Tokimune (AD 1251-1284). The finest Southern Song and Yuan dynasty kinuta-glazed Longquan celadons have continued to be amongst the most esteemed Chinese ceramics in Japan. It is no coincidence that the famous early 20th century Japanese art dealer Mayuyama Matsutaro (1882-1935) chose a Longquan celadon censer to provide the focus of his attention in an early formal portrait (fig. 1).

Cylindrical celadon flower vases have been especially revered in Japan, and the two published examples still preserved in Japanese collections today both have long, well documented, and illustrious provenances. One of these vases, now in the Mitsui Memorial Museum, Tokyo, was owned in the Sengoku period (c. 1467–1615) by the famous tea master Takeno Jōō (1502–1555), who was chanoyu (tea ceremony) teacher to the most famous of all tea masters, Sen no Rikyū (1522–1591). This provenance is recorded by Yamanoue Sōji (1544-90) in his tea ceremony chronicles (Yamanoue Sōji ki). Thereafter, the vase was owned by Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536/7–1598), a feudal lord, and chief imperial minister, who completed the military unification of Japan in the 16th century. In the Edo period (1603-1868) the vase passed into the hands of the Mitsui family. This vase was included in the important exhibition of Southern Song celadon wares, at the Nezu Museum, Tokyo, in 2010, as exhibit no. 6 (fig. 2).

The other published example from a Japanese collection was included in the same exhibition, as exhibit no. 7, and is in the Nezu Museum’s own collection (fig. 3). This vase, which has been designated an ‘Important Cultural Property’, is known as Ōuchi-zutsu and is esteemed as a Higashiyama gyomotsu work of art. Higashiyama gyomotsu was a record of the paintings, chaki (tea utensils), kaki(flower vases), stationery and other items in the collection of Yoshimasa Ashikaga (1436-1490). Yoshimasa Ashikaga was the 8th shōgun of the Ashikaga shōgunate, who ruled from 1449 to 1473 during the Japanese Muromachi period. The record was compiled by Nōami (1397–1471), the dōbōshū (artist in the service of the shōgun), one of whose responsibilities was the care and appraisal of the karamono (Chinese works of art) in the shōgun’s collection. This vase was later acquired by the well-known Japanese businessman, politician, philanthropist and collector Kaichiro Nezu (1860-1940), whose private collection formed the basis of the Nezu Museum.

The current vase was preserved in a temple in Japan until the time of the Meiji Restoration (1860-1880), when Mr Noda Chuemon acquired it. Mr. Noda Chuemon, who was born in the latter part of the Edo period (1603-1868), was attempting to support the temple during the period of haibutsu kishaku (1868-74), when there was a movement against Buddhism and towards establishing Shinto as the state religion. The vase later passed into the possession of Noda Chuemon’s son, Mr. Noda Yoshiemon, who, in turn, gave the vase to his daughter, Noda Misayo, on the occasion of her marriage in the 1930s. The vase was eventually passed down to the current owner, who is Mr. Noda Chuemon’s great-great grandson. Having been in a temple and then in a private collection in Japan, this vase has not previously been published and may be regarded as a new ‘discovery’ within the small group of known examples of these precious Longquan celadon cylindrical vases. 

A very limited number of other Southern Song cylindrical vases are known. A somewhat smaller (14.7 cm.) Guan ware cylindrical vase is in the collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei (illustrated in Catalogue of the Special Exhibition of Sung dynasty Kuan Ware, Taipei, 1989, p. 90, no. 51 (fig. 4). Two further, also smaller (15.5 and 15.8 cm.), Guan ware cylindrical vases in the National Palace Museum, Taipei (illustrated ibid., p. 87, nos. 48 and 49 (fig. 5), have bands just above the foot. One of these vases (no. 49) bears a Qianlong inscription incised into its base, including a date equivalent to AD 1778, indicating that it was in the Chinese imperial collection at that date. A smaller Longquan celadon vase (H: 15.7 cm.) is in the collection of the Musée Guimet, Paris. This vase, from the Michel Calmann Collection, is illustrated by Daisy Lion-Goldschmidt and Jean-Claude Moreau-Gobard in Chinese Art, New York, 1980, colour plate 144. A Longquan celadon vase of similar size to the current example (17.8 cm.), which had previously been in a Japanese collection, was sold by Christie’s New York on 26 March 2003, lot 228. A very slightly taller vase (18.1 cm.), described in the catalogue as ‘Longquan Guan’ – i.e. Guan style made at the Longquan kilns - was sold by Christie’s New York on 31 May 1994.

Chinese Longquan celadon glazes of the Song and Yuan dynasties were amongst the most influential ceramics, not only within China, but internationally. They inspired potters in other parts of East Asia, including Japan, as well as those of Southeast Asia kilns - such as Satchanalai and Sawankhalok in the 15th century. The influence of Longquan even extended to the Near East, where the wealthy had been enthusiastic patrons of Longquan wares. Potters in Safavid Iran (1502-1736), for example, created vessels in specific imitation of Chinese celadons. It is interesting to note that the graceful form of the cylindrical Southern Song Longquan celadon vases provides inspiration for potters even today, as can be seen in the work of contemporary potters such as Taro Tabuchi (b. 1977), who works in porcelain using a wood-fired kiln. 

Christie's. Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, Hong Kong, 9 July 2020