Lot 2959. A Jian ‘Haikatsugi’ Greyish Brown-Glazed Tea Bowl, Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279); 4 ½ in. (11.5 cm.) diam., Japanese wood box dated to 1782. Estimate HKD 200,000 - HKD 400,000. Price realised HKD 325,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2021

The bowl is finely potted with thin, rounded sides supported on a short foot, applied with an attractive mottled greyish-brown glaze thinning to an olive-green colour, stopping irregularly above the foot revealing the dark-brown body.

Provenance: The Maeda Family Collection, Japan, acquired prior to 1782 (according to inscription on Japanese wood box).

Note: The cover of the Japanese wood box accompanying the current lot bears an inscription recording the head of the Maeda Family renewed the cloth wrap of this bowl in Tenmei second year, corresponding to 1782. The Maeda Family was one of the most powerful feudal warlords ruling central Japan from the 16th to 19th century. This type of Jian bowl, covered with an unusual greyish-brown glaze, was revered in Japanese tea ceremony, and was known as haikatsugi tenmoku (ash-covered) or ki tenmoku (yellow) bowl in Japan.

Lot 2960. A Jian ‘Hare's Fur' Tea Bowl, Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279); 4 7/8 in. (12.4 cm.) diam., Japanese wood box. Estimate HKD 220,000 - HKD 280,000. Price realised HKD 275,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2021

The bowl is thickly potted with a narrow groove below the rim, covered overall with a lustrous black glaze streaked with fine ‘hare’s fur’ markings on the interior and exterior where the glaze stops irregularly above the foot exposing the chocolate-brown body.

Provenance: A Japanese private collection, acquired in the 1980s.

Lot 2964. A Ding Carved 'Lotus' Bowl and Cover, Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127); 2 7/8 in. (7.4 cm.) diam. Estimate HKD 250,000 - HKD 300,000. Price realised HKD 325,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2021

The bowl is carved around the exterior with two lotus blossoms. The domed cover with a broad rim is similarly carved with lotus and surmounted by a double-gourd finial. Both the cover and bowl are applied to the exterior and interior with a transparent glaze of ivory tone.

Lot 2965. A Jun Sky-blue Glazed Dish, Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127); 7 in. (17.6 cm.) diam., Japanese wood box. Estimate HKD 100,000 - HKD 150,000. Price realised HKD 125,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2021

The dish is well potted with shallow sides rising to a slightly inturned rim, supported on a short foot. It is covered overall with a lavender-blue glaze thinning to mushroom at the mouth rim, with the exception of the brown-dressed foot, and a small purple spot on the exterior.

Provenance: Sold at Bonhams Hong Kong, 2 June 2016, lot 1.

Lot 2966. A Small Jun 'Bubble' Bowl, Northern Song - Jin Dynasty (960-1234); 3 5/8 in. (9.2 cm.) diam., box. Estimate HKD 200,000 - HKD 300,000. Price realised HKD 525,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2021

The rounded sides are covered in a thick glaze of greyish-blue colour paling to a mushroom tone at the slightly inverted rim and stopping unevenly above the buff foot.

Provenance: Ruth Dreyfus Collection
John Sparks, Ltd., London
Arthur M. Sackler (1913-1987) Collections
Else Sackler (1913-2000) Collection, and thence by descent from within the family
Sold at Christie’s New York, 17 March 2017, lot 1146.

Exhibited: Israel Museum, 3500 Years of Chinese Art: Ceramics from the Arthur M. Sackler Collection, Jerusalem, 1987.

Note: A similar bowl of comparable size (9.1 cm.) is illustrated in Mayuyama, Seventy Years, Vol. 1, Tokyo, 1976, p. 138, pl. 406.

Lot 2967. A Finely Carved Ding 'Lotus' Bowl, Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127); 8 1/4 in. (21 cm.) diam. box. Estimate HKD 600,000 - HKD 800,000. Price realised HKD 1,625,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2021

The bowl is thinly potted with an angular profile, fluidly carved to the interior with lotus blossoms and leaves on meandering stems, covered inside and out with a lustrous glaze of pale ivory tone. The base is inscribed with the character, yuan.

Lot 2971. A Rare Yue Carved Octogonal Ewer and Cover, Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127); 7 ½ in. (19 cm.) high, Japanese wood box. Estimate HKD 240,000 - HKD 320,000. Price realised HKD 525,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2021

The body is divided into eight panels by vertical raised ribs, with a large peony carved on two adjacent panels on the two main sides, the remaining panels with single peony sprays, all between bands of lotus petals, interrupted by the curved spout and S-shaped handle, and the cover is similarly shaped with six panels divided by raised ribs and surmounted by a double-flower-head finial, all covered with a glossy clear glaze of greyish-green tone, the underside with four spur marks.

Provenance: A Japanese private collection, acquired in the 1970s
Sold at Christie’s New York, 14-15 September 2017, lot 1151.

Note: The octagonal sides and carved decoration of the present ewer appear to derive from metalwork. The faceted form in particular is a shape suited to metalworking, but which would have presented a considerable challenge to the potter.

It is rare to find this form in Yue ware, although a related qingbai octagonal ewer is illustrated in Mayuyama Seventy Years, vol. 1, Tokyo, 1976, p. 146, no. 426. Two related Yue ewers, one with a sketchily carved floral design which continues across vertical ribs and with a flaring neck, and the other with carved floral pattern and a lotus-petal finial, are also illustrated Mayuyama Seventy Years, vol. 1, op. cit. p. 117, nos. 335 and 336.

Lot 2972. A Small Russet-Splashed Black-Glazed Jar, Song Dynasty (960-1279); 3 7/8 in. (10 cm.) high. Estimate HKD 180,000 - HKD 260,000. Price realised HKD 150,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2021

The jar is covered overall with an attractive glossy black glaze speckled with russet stopping before the foot. The base is left unglazed.

Lot 2973. A Jizhou Blackish-Brown Glazed Ovoid Jar, Song Dynasty (960-1279); 8 5/8 in. (21.9 cm.) high, Japanese box. Estimate HKD 200,000 - HKD 300,000. Price realised HKD 187,500. © Christie's Images Ltd 2021

A thick, even dark brown glaze is applied to the exterior of the vase that extends to the inner rim and stops in an irregular line above the foot. The base is unglazed, revealing the buff body. 

Lot 2973. A Pair Of Qingbai Cups And Stands, Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279); Larger cup: 2 7/4 in. (7.5 cm.) diam. Larger stand: 4 1/8 in. (10.4 cm.) diam., Japanese box. Estimate HKD 80,000 - HKD 150,000. Price realised HKD 150,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2021

Each cup is potted with rounded sides and a straight rim supported on a short foot ring; the stands are potted in the form of a circular tray supported on a slightly splayed foot and punctuated underside. Both are covered inside and out with a clear crackled glaze of pale greenish-white tone pooling to an aquamarine colour at the recesses, the unglazed undersides revealing the fine white body.

Lot 2976. A Rare Inscribed And Dated Ding Lobed Dish, Early Northern Song Dynasty, With Inscription Dating To First Year Of Taipingxingguo Reign, Corresponding To Ad 976 And Of The Period; 7 ¼ in. (18.5 cm.) diam., box. Estimate HKD 600,000 - HKD 1,000,000. Price realised HKD 475,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2021

The dish is thinly potted with a flat base rising to five petal-lobes, applied inside and out with a clear glaze of pale ivory tone, with ‘tear marks’ on the reverse side. The flat base is unglazed, revealing the fine, white body written in black ink with a two-line poem followed by a Taipingxingguo first year, sixth day of the sixth month date, corresponding to AD 976, and a signature Liu Zhang of Jianzhou prefecture.

Property from the Collection of Ronald W. Longsdorf.

Provenance: K.Y. Fine Art, Hong Kong, 2011.

Exhibited: J.J. Lally & Co. Oriental Art, Early Chinese White Wares: The Ronald W. Longsdorf Collection, New York, 11 September to 3 October 2015, cat. no. 21

Note: The inscription may be translated as ‘Yi Ding vessels [are white] as frosty snow [by] the light of the moon through ten thousand li of clouds. On the sixth day of sixth month of the first year of Taipingxingguo reign, written by Liu Zhang of Jianzhou prefecture.’

The characters Yi Ding inscribed on the current dish can also be found and incised on two other Ding bowls dating to the Five Dynasties, one in the Shanghai Museum, the other in the Palace Museum, illustrated in Selection of Ding Ware: the Palace Museum’s Collection and Archaeological Excavation, Beijing, 2012, no. 30. There has been much scholarly debate over the interpretation of these two characters, with some suggesting Yi should be read as Yang, referring to Quyang where the Ding kilns are located; some suggesting they stand for Yizhou and Dingzhou in Hebei; and some suggesting this group were made for the military governor of Yiding area (Yiding jiedushi).

Three Ding vessels excavated from the underground palace of the Jingzhisi Temple pagoda were inscribed in ink with a Taipingxingguo second year date, corresponding to 977, one year after our current dish. The first is a lobed dish incised with a guan character, illustrated in Ding Kiln of China, Beijing, 2012, p. 72, no. 60. The second is a Ding box, illustrated in Liu Tao, Dated Ceramics of the Song, Liao and Jin Periods, Beijing, 2004, p. 4, no. 1-16. The third is a Ding censer moulded with Buddhist figures, illustrated in Complete Collection of Ceramics Art Unearthed in China -3- Hebei, Beijing, 2008, no. 93.