Lot 149. A small 'Longquan' Guan-type celadon-glazed 'chrysanthemum' cup, Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279). Diameter 8.5 cm. Estimate 4,000 - 6,000 USD. Lot Sold 7,620 USD. © Sotheby's 2024

Provenance : Collection of Dr. Henry Guinness de László (1901-1967).

Exhibited : Chinese Ceramics Tang to Song, Marchant, London, 2022, cat. no. 39.

Note: For a closely related cup with a similar tall foot and convex base to the underside, see one in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Tianxia Longquan: Longquan qingci yu quanqiu hua / Longquan of the World: Longquan Celadon and Globalization, vol. 1, Beijing, 2019, cat. no. 100.

Lot 150. A 'Longquan' celadon-glazed 'lotus' bowl, Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279). Diameter 12.7 cm. Estimate 10,000 - 15,000 USD. Lot Sold 31,750 USD.© Sotheby's 2024

Provenance : English Private Collection.
Roger Keverne, London.
Marchant, London.

Exhibited : Chinese Ceramics Tang to Song, Marchant, London, 2022, cat. no. 42.

Note : A closely related bowl is in the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, illustrated in He Li, Chinese Ceramics. A New Comprehensive Survey, New York, 1996, pl. 269; one with twenty petals is in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Porcelain of the Song dynasty (II) vol. 33, Hong Kong, 1996, pl. 134; another is included in The Illustrated Catalogue of the Tokyo National Museum, Chinese Ceramics, Tokyo, 1965, pl. 368. Two related bowls are illustrated in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, vol. I, London, 2006, pls 543-544.

Lot 151. A 'Longquan' celadon-glazed 'peony' comestic box and cover, Southern Song / Yuan dynasty (1127-1368). Diameter 7 cm. Estimate 15,000 - 20,000 USD. Lot Sold 20,320 USD. © Sotheby's 2024

Provenance: Hong Kong Private Collection, acquired in the 1990s.
Sotheby's Hong Kong, 1st-2nd June 2017, lot 408.

Exhibited : Chinese Ceramics Tang to Song, Marchant, London, 2018, cat. no. 31.

Note : For similar boxes elegantly molded in relief with flowers, see one in the Guanfu Museum, Beijing, where it is decorated with a lotus flower, included in The Art of Chinese Box, Beijing, 2009, cat. no. 73; see another box, carved with a lotus spray, from the collection of Harry Oppenheim and included in R.L. Hobson and A.L. Hetherington, The Art of the Chinese Potter; from the Han Dynasty to the end of the Ming, New York, 1923, fig. 2. See another related box in the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, illustrated in He Li, Chinese Ceramics. A New Comprehensive Survey, New York, 1996, pl. 361.

Lot 152. A 'Longquan' celadon-glazed bottle vase, Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279). Height 15 cm. Estimate 40,000 - 50,000 USD. Unsold. © Sotheby's 2024

Provenance: Collection of Colonel William Roy Hodgson (1892-1958), acquired in Tokyo in the 1950s.

Exhibited : Chinese Ceramics Tang to Song, Marchant, London, 2022, cat. no. 41.

Note : This charming vase exemplifies the refinement of the classic Southern Song aesthetic, embodying ideals of simplicity and harmony in its unassuming yet elegant shape which perfectly complements the attractive, lustrous glaze. Suzanne G. Valenstein in A Handbook of Chinese Ceramics, New York, 1989, p. 99, suggests that the rapid refinement of craftsmanship at the Longquan kilns during the Southern Song dynasty is to be attributed to the court extending its patronage to kilns outside the capital city, Hangzhou, probably including kilns in Longquan.

A vase of this type is in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Tianxia Longquan: Longquan qingci yu quanqiu hua / Longquan of the World: Longquan Celadon and Globalization, vol. 2, Beijing, 2019, cat. no. 6; another from the collections of Mrs Alfred Clark and Edward T. Chow, illustrated in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, vol. 1, London, 1994, pl. 555, was sold in our London rooms, 16th December 1980, lot 299, and again in our Hong Kong rooms, 20th November 1985, lot 5; one illustrated in Chinese Ceramics in the Idemitsu Collection, Tokyo, 1987, pl. 456; two illustrated in Bo Gyllensvärd, Chinese Ceramics in the Carl Kempe Collection, Stockholm, 1964, pls 96-97; another illustrated in Brian McElney, Chinese Ceramics, vol. 1, Museum of East Asian Art, Bath, cat. no. 96; one in the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, illustrated in He Li, Chinese Ceramics: A New Comprehensive Survey, New York, 1996, pl. 272; one previously included in The Collection of Dr. and Mrs. Marvin L. Gordon, Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, J.J. Lally & Co., New York, 2009, cat. no. 22, and sold in these rooms, 16th March 2016, lot 251. Mason Wang in Song Ceramics: From the Laiyantang Collection / Songci wushi nian: Laiyantang zhencang, Singapore, 2010, pl. 38, illustrates a closely related vase alongside a silver vase of the same form excavated at Pengzhou, Sichuan province in 1993, suggesting this form to have come from silverware.

Colonel Willian Roy Hodgson was an Australian solider, public servant and diplomat who was involved in the formation of the United National General Assembly. The present lot was purchased during his time in Tokyo on the advice of Koyama Fujio, who was the former curator at the Tokyo National Museum, Tokyo. 

Lot 153. An exceptional and rare 'Longquan' celadon-glazed 'bamboo-neck' vase, Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279). Height 26 cm. Estimate 120,000 - 150,000 USD. Unsold. © Sotheby's 2024

Provenance: Collection of Tsutomu Ikeuchi (b. 1964), within the family collection for 50 years.

Exhibited: Koetsukai. Pieces for the Tea Ceremony including Flower Vases (Ikebana), Koetsu-Ji Temple, Kyoto, 26th April 2014.

The present lot exhibited in Koetsukai. Pieces for the Tea Ceremony including Flower Vases (Ikebana), Koetsu-Ji Temple, Kyoto, 26th April 2014.

A masterpiece of the Longquan kilns produced during the Southern Song dynasty, the present vase is exquisitely potted and covered overall in a delicate, luminous green glaze. Its elegant silhouette with a tall slender neck and compressed globular body along with the slightly raised horizontal ribs imitating bamboo grooves epitomize the celebrated understated sophistication of Southern Song porcelains.

Already during the Northern Song, Confucian and Daoist principles of ritual propriety and decorum permeated the culture of daily life, extending to the ruling philosophy of the court. When the Jurchen people invaded from the North and conquered the Central Plain, the Song Court retreated southward and established a new capital in Lin’an, marking the start of the Southern Song dynasty. The support of the newly-established court ushered in an unprecedented growth for the Longquan kilns. Both the court and scholar-officials that settled in Hangzhou favored these wares with seemingly modest forms covered in mesmerizing glazes with a depth of color and tactility that resembled treasured jade. To recreate the jade-like appearance, craftsmen began replacing the traditional lime-based glaze with a lime-alkali glaze, which resulted in higher viscosity and a softer gloss, as seen on the present vessel. Similar to the fabled Guan ware, the glaze was applied in multiple layers, thus appearing thick and lustrous.

The drastic political shift during the early Song dynasty from a society ruled by hereditary aristocracy to one governed by a central bureaucracy of highly educated scholar-officials had a major impact on the arts of the period. The keen interest in antiquities prompted a revival of archaic forms in ceramic production. Indeed, the unassuming form of the present vase finds its origins in bronze vessels of the Han dynasty, such as one cast with raised ribs, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (accession no. 2007.133). This timeless form, borrowed from archaic bronze vessels, was not only appreciated by Song contemporaries, but also continued to be sought after for centuries as a standard of refined elegance. The Qing Emperors were especially fond of Song ceramics, and in a painting by Giuseppe Castiglione in the National Palace Museum, Taipei (accession no. 故畫000803N000000000), dated 1723, the first year of the Yongzheng Emperor's reign, a vase of the same form is depicted holding a beautiful lotus flower bouquet.

See a closely related vase, of slightly larger size, from the collection of Sir Percival David, now in the British Museum, London (accession no. PDF.202), illustrated in Margaret Medley, Illustrated Catalogue of Celadon Wares in the Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, London, 1977, pl. 50 (fig. 1); another, with a shorter lip, and of a Guan-type crackled glaze, is in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Tianxia Longquan: Longquan qingci yu quanqiu hua / Longquan of the World: Longquan Celadon and Globalization, vol. 1, Beijing, 2019, cat. no. 21; a third, is illustrated in the 15th Anniversary Catalogue of the Idemitsu Museum of Arts, Tokyo, 1981, cat. no. 886; and lastly one is illustrated in Sekai Toji Zenshu / Ceramic Art of the World, Ming dynasty vol. 14, Tokyo, 1961, pl. 227. A vase with a more slender neck and a rounded lip, in the Palace Museum, Beijing (accession no. 新00109041), is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Porcelain of the Song Dynasty (II), Hong Kong, 1996, pl. 103; a smaller example was sold twice in these rooms, 30th March 2006, lot 27, and 23rd March 2011, lot 547; and one, also with a shorter, rounded lip, from the Estate of Elizabeth Fondaras was sold at Christie's New York, 20th September 2013, lot 1276.

Fig 1 A ‘Longquan’ celadon-glazed ‘bamboo-neck’ vase, Southern Song dynasty © The Trustees of The British Museum.

For excavated examples, see a similar vase excavated at the kiln site in the Longquan area, published in Longquan qingci yanjiu [Research on Longquan celadon], Beijing, 1989, pl. 41; and a further vase, recovered in Suining, Sichuan province, published in Celadons from Longquan, Taipei, 1998, pl. 114.

Christie's. Important Chinese Art Including the Collection of Dorothy Tapper Goldman, New York, 22 march 2024.

Lot 154. A 'Longquan' celadon-glazed incense burner, Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279). Width across handles 18 cm, Japanese wood box (3). Estimate 20,000 - 30,000 USD. © Sotheby's 2024

Note: Another closely related Longquan celadon incense burner of archaistic gui form, similarly potted with two ring bands around the body and closely related handles, is illustrated in Celadons from Longquan Kilns, Taipei, 1998, pl. 124. See also an example included by Mayuyama, An Exhibition of Song Ceramics, Tokyo, 2018, cat. no. 5, and another illustrated in Song Ceramics: Utensils of Sublime Beauty, Idemitsu Museum of Arts, Tokyo, 2018, pl. 92.

Lot 155. A molded 'Longquan' celadon-glazed 'double fish' dish, Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279). Diameter 15.9 cm, Japanese wood box (3). Estimate 20,000 - 30,000 USD. Unsold. © Sotheby's 2024

Provenance: Kansai Private Collection.

Note: Dishes of this popular ‘twin fish’ design were produced from the Southern Song dynasty to the Yuan dynasty. Compare a similar Southern Song dynasty example from the collection of Sakamoto Goro, sold in these rooms, 16th September 2014, lot 2. For an early example see a dish in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, included in the exhibition Ice and Green Clouds: Traditions of Chinese Celadon, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, 1987, cat. no. 77, together with various related dishes and shards of both Song and Yuan periods, figs 77a-g.

See also an example from the Sir Percival David Collection and now in the British Museum, London, illustrated in Stacey Pierson, Designs as Signs. Decoration and Chinese Ceramics, London, 2001, pl. 11, where the author discusses the ‘twin fish’ motif as an auspicious symbol of harmonious marriage and good fortune (p. 19). A dish of this type, attributed to the Yuan dynasty, is included in Celadons from Longquan Kilns, Taipei, 1998, pl. 218; two dishes recovered from a ship wrecked off the coast of Korea in 1323 are illustrated in Relics Salvaged from the Seabed off Sinan. Materials I, Seoul, 1985, pl. 13; and another dish is published in T. Misugi, Chinese Porcelain Collections in the Near East: Topkapi and Ardebil, Hong Kong, 1981, vol. III, pl. A230.

Sotheby's. Chinese Art, New York, 19 March 2024