Chinese Ceramics from American and Japanese Collections at Zetyterquist galleries, March 14th - 22nd 2024

18 mars 2024

Chinese Ceramics from American and Japanese Collections at Zetyterquist galleries, March 14th - 22nd 2024

A large porcelaineous stoneware jar with high shoulders tapering down to a smaller fat foot. The slightly curved neck ends in a faring, rounded mouth-rim. The piece is covered with a translucent glaze of pale greenish tone which ends a few centimeters above the foot, revealing a dense white porcelaineous stoneware body.

This piece was likely produced in the Gongyi kilns of Henan Provence, which difer in form and clay body from their Hebei counterparts. It is notable for its large size and excellent condition.

Accompanied by Oxford TL test #P100w52

Provenance: From a private New York collection, purchased in London.

A melon-shaped ewer with pale greenish-ivory qingbai glaze and ten lobes, eight of which are decorated with lightly incised floral carving. The body is surmounted with a tall neck that flares at the mouth (with repaired chip) and a flattened handle that loops up from the mid-section and ends at the base of the neck. A slightly flared spout arches out from the upper shoulder. There is a lid (slightly warped at firing) that is depressed in the center with a small ornamental knob and cylindrical loop at the edge. The bottom is partiallyunglazed, revealing a white clay body. There are four gritty spur marks, one of which was pulled off after firing, leaving a small crater.

See a similar example published in “Sekai Touji Zenshu” Vol. 12, pl. 28. Another can be seen in Regina Krahl’s “Chinese Ceramics from the MeiYinTang Collection” Volk. 1, pl. 596

Provenance: Private Japanese Collection

A large porcelaineous plate with densely composed bands of molded foliate decoration. The frst, constrained by concentric double lines and surrounding the cavetto, is a crisply molded scrolling peony pattern. The inside center, constrained by a band of key frets, is densely decorated with molded scrolling lotus fowers and leaves. The entire piece, with the exception of the mouth-rim, is glazed with a fne translucent ivory glaze which pools to a taupe color. The bowl sits on a short, straight foot-rim, which is also glazed. It has a brown spot on the back, where a speck of iron melted during the fring. There are also two narrow kiln faws on the back. With ftted wooden box.

See a similar example in Regina Krahl’s “Chinese Ceramics from the MeiYinTang Collection” Vol. 1, pl. 366.

Another similar example is in the collection at the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne Australia, and viewable at https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/explore/collection/work/51750/

Provenance: From a private Japanese collection.

A deep stoneware bowl with slightly fared mouth-rim on a straight raised foot. It is covered with a translucent minty green glaze typical of tenth century Yaouzhou output. This piece, with a ftted and inscribed Japanese box, was probably used in the Japanese tea ceremony.

A piece of the same type is published in “Masterpieces of Yaozhou Ceramics”, Osaka Museum of Oriental Ceramics, 1997, pl. 18.

Provenance: Private Japanese collection.

A porcelain vase with fared foot carved with vertical ridges. The baluster form body is lobed into nine sections ending in a trumpet neck constrained by horizontal banding at its base and a widely fared mouth. Some rim fritting and repaired chips on the mouth rim. (Two restored with original material and one small chip with repair.)

A similar piece from the Percival David Collection is published in “Oriental Ceramics; The World’s Great Collections”, Kodansha, Tokyo 1981, Vol. 6, pl. 5.

With a ftted wooden box.

Provenance: Private Japanese Collection

A thinly potted conical porcelain bowl with tall narrow foot. The interior is decorated with incised foral sprigs and the entire piece is covered with a pale blue Qingbai glaze. The underfoot is unglazed, revealing a white porcelain clay body. Exceedingly fne and translucent under light, this piece is most likely from the Hutian Kilns in Jingdezhen. In a ftted wooden box.

Provenance: From a private Japanese Collection

A large molded porcelain circular box with scalloped sides and slightly domed top with impressed foral decoration. The piece is covered in a very pale blue translucent glaze with the exception of its inner mouth rim and fattened bottom.

In an old ftted wooden box.

Provenance: Private Japanese Collection from at least the early 20th c.

Literature: Published in “Compendium of Ceramics - Volume 12 - Tang and Song Whitewares” Heibonsha, Tokyo, 1961, p. 57.

Together with: A round porcelain box with tightly scalloped, layered edge and the top with a dense repeated foral pattern. The exterior is covered with a translucent pale blue glaze of rich tone, which ends at the fat foot, revealing a white porcelain clay body. The interior is glazed on the top and bottom, except for the rim. Small chips to interior rim. With ftted wooden box.

Provenance: From private Japanese collections.

A tall high-shouldered Mei-ping bottle vase of dark gray stoneware covered in a white slip with areas of pink blush. The main section of the upper body has a masterfully carved cut-slip decoration of fsh swimming amongst lotus plants in front and back cartouches, with a “Fish Roe” pattern background. The sides have wave decoration between the cartouches, and the bottom section has a narrow band of foral carving over a tall band of elongated lotus petals. Atop the shoulder is are two bands of fower petal decorations below the small, fared mouth. The exterior is covered with a translucent glaze that pools to a greyish green color near the bottom, and stops unevenly above the deeply countersunk foot. The unglazed underfoot reveals a gray stoneware body stained by red burial earth.

The rarifed quality of the potting and decoration, as well as the use of fshroe decoration, place this piece in the Song Dynasty.

An example of this type, but with difering decorative subject, can be seen in the collection of The City Art Gallery, Bristol, published in “Arte Chinese”, Alferi Editore Venezia 1954, pl. 517. Another piece of similar type from the Eumorfopoulos Collection, and now in the V&A Museum, London, is published in Robert Hobson’s “Eumorfopoulos Collection Catalogue” London, 1925-1928, pl. C398. Another with similar form as C271 in the same publication.
In an old ftted and inscribed Japanese box with “Fujio” inscribed under the lid. Koyama Fujio (1900-1975) was a noted scholar of Japanese and Chinese Ceramics, and one of the original editors of Sekai Touji Zenshu in 1955. He later became a ceramicist whose work is still prized to this day.

Provenance: Collection of Koyama Fujio (1900-1975), Japan
Private Japanese Collection.

A stoneware tea bowl of conical form with slightly fared mouth-rim. The interior is covered with a deep black shiny glaze with random splashes in a vibrant russet color. The glaze thins at the rim to a reddish brown, and the exterior is black with a fne overlay of russet-colored spots and speckles, above a black glazed foot. The underfoot is unglazed, revealing a light buf colored stoneware body. A glaze crawl on the exterior has been repaired.

With a ftted wooden box.

Provenance: From a private Japanese collection.

A stoneware tea bowl with steep rounded sides and primarily persimmon colored glaze that streaks in a “Hare’s fur” pattern into a blackish brown color towards the bottom interior, where it pools to black. The glaze is similarly streaked around the exterior, where it pools above the foot-rim, revealing a dark grey stoneware body, small straight solid foot, and very shallow under-foot well. The rim is covered in a silver band, typical of these wares used in the Japanese tea ceremony. With ftted wooden box. Repaired rim chip (old repair).

In Japan, this form would have been used for a less formal “usu-cha” tea ceremony.A similar predominantly persimmon colored example is published in “Song Ceramics from the Kwan Collection”, Hong Kong Museum of Art, 1994, pl. 165.

Provenance: Private Japanese Collection.

A large stoneware charger with a fattened barbed rim, detailed with a deftly carved shadow line dramatically highlighting the edge. The cavetto is deeply scalloped and the bottom has an impressed peony decorative roundel. The entire piece is covered in an ideal sweet blue-green Longquan celadon glaze, which continues over the foot and into the underfoot, absent only in the ring where the piece sat on a cylinder during fring, and where light gray clay body has fred to a reddish buf color.

There is some minor surface scratching and staining.

Provenance: Private American Collection.

An archaistic “Gu” form molded vase with fared base, banded center and trumpet neck. The base and neck are deeply carved with elongated lotus petals that form foliated rims at the top and bottom. The center band is decorated with carved Daoist trinary characters, more commonly seen in the Yuan Dynasty. The entire piece is covered with an ideal minty green translucent celadon glaze that ends at the straight collar foot, which has fred to a reddish- brown color, and has a glazed foot-well.

The “Gu” form vase is produced in various quality levels and details throughout the Ming dynasty, a period fascinated by archaistic infuences. This example is notable for its refnement of potting and glaze. Its Taoist references and barbed rim, both common in the Yuan Dynasty, likely places it in the early part of the Ming Dynasty. Its excellent skin and old box, suggest that it is an heirloomed piece exported to Japan during the Ming Dynasty.

A piece of similar size and elongated form, but without the futing, is featured in “Sekai Touji Zenshu” Shogakukan, Tokyo, 1984, Vol. 14, pl, 132.

With and old, ftted lacquer box inscribed in silver, silk pouch and stained wood exterior box.

Provenance: Private Japanese collection.

Posté par Alain Truong à 11:55 - Commentaires […] - Permalien [#]

Tags: Tang Dynasty (618-907), Song Dynasty (960-1279), Qingbai, Jin dynasty (1115-1234), Dingyao, Five dynasties, yaozhou, Jian, Longquan celadon, Ming dynasty (1368-1644)