Vietnamese Ceramics from American and Japanese Collections at Zetterquist Galleries,March 14th - 22nd 2024

19 mars 2024

Vietnamese Ceramics from American and Japanese Collections at Zetterquist Galleries,March 14th - 22nd 2024

There are areas of glaze faking and small chips on the rim.

The deepness with which the lotus petals are carved, and the slightly lower fring temperature, indicate that this is an early piece from the 11th century.

With old ftted wooden box and old tea silks.

Provenance: From a private Japanese collection.

Literature: Published in “Sekai Touji Zenshu” (Ceramic Art of the World) Shogakukan, Tokyo 1984, Vol. 16, pl. 4 and “Masterworks of Eastern Ceramics” Aichi Prefectural Ceramic Museum 1994, pl. 11 (SE Asian section).

A large bell-shaped ewer with yellowish ivory crackled glaze on a white clay body. The top of the pitcher has three rows of hand carved lotus petals. The lid has an inwardly curled rim that fts over the fared mouth, and a knob in the shape of lotus bud, surrounded with a lotus petal lappet. The spout is elaborately carved in the form of a beast head, and the false handle in the shape of a parrot. The foot is fat, unglazed, and fred to a buf color.

There is a tiny chip on interior rim, a hairline crack, and burial staining to surface.

Provenance: Brow Collection Mary and Cheney Cowles Collection

A barrel shaped jar divided into six shallow lobes with six lug handles evenly spaced around the top. The short, beveled neck is surrounded by a collar of deeply carved lotus petals, which are repeated around the lotus bud knob of the domed lid. Below the lotus petal lappet, there is a narrowband with impressed foral medallions interspersed in sets of three between each of the lug handles, which are also repeated on the dome of the lid. The short, fared neck ends in a beveled mouth rim. The entire piece is covered in a fnely crackled translucent glaze. The fat bottom is unglazed revealing pale clay body. Hairline body crack on one side.

With ftted wooden box.

Provenance: Collection of Akio Seino (1928-2021), Japan.

A lobed, high-shouldered jar with lug handles at the top of each of the eight lobes. The lobes are accentuated by bands of brown around their perimeter to resemble lotus petals. The top of the shoulder is decorated by a band of overlapping lotus petals deeply carved over a striated surface, all below a rolled mouth rim. The lid, also with bands of alternating brown details, has a lotus bud fnial (chipped at the top), surrounded by another band of carved overlapping lotus petals sitting in a feld of minute circular patterning, accentuated by brown glaze pooling in its crevices. The entire piece, with exception to its brown details, is covered with a fnely crackled translucent glaze that pools to a very pale green color, and has orangey-pink burial stains. The interior is glazed in a rich iron-oxide brown glaze. The bottom is unglazed, revealing a light buf clay body.

This piece is notable for the efective use of brown detailing, inside and out, and for its masterful carving.

Provenance: Brow Collection
Mary and Cheney Cowles Collection.

A stoneware bowl of truncated globular form with incised double line under the mouth-rim with has applied studs. The body is decorated with two large peony appliqué on front and back, and Taotie mask and rings on either side. The entire piece is covered with a fnely crackled olive-green celadon glaze, which stops at the foot rim to reveal a stoneware body fred to a buf color. The deep underfoot has a thinly applied translucent brown glaze. The iron oxide brown rim has small chips. This is an oft repeated form in the Trân Dynasty, heavily infuenced by Longquan wares, and refers to archaic bronzes. Other examples can be seen in “Vietnamese Ceramics: A Separate Tradition” by John Stevenson and John Guy, Avery Press, 1997, pl. 177 and “The Elephant and the Lotus “Vietnamese Ceramics in the Museum of Fine Arts” by Philippe Truong, Boston, Boston MFA, 2001, pg. 122-123.

Provenance: Mary and Cheney Cowles Collection.

A stoneware bowl in the style of Southern Chinese Qingbai wares, with a foliate-form rim underneath of which is a band of molded foral decoration and an applied turtle in high relief in the center. The exterior has deeply incised vertical striations referring to fower petals. The entire piece is covered in a bluish-green celadon glaze, which ends at the beveled foot rim revealing a buf stoneware body. There is a popped glaze bubble on the exterior.

Although this piece emerged from a collection of Vietnamese ceramics, and presumed to have been a Vietnamese copy of Chinese celadons, it is possible that it could be from a Southern Chinese kiln producing export wares for SE Asia. There is no brown wash under the foot, and the form of the foot is thick and beveled, in the style of Southern Chinese wares.

Provenance: Brow Collection
Mary and Cheney Cowles Collection.

A fnely potted stoneware bowl with domed lid with crenelated edge surmounted by a two-tiered knob. The bowl has a narrow base that swells to a wide shoulder and inverted mouth rim. The top of the lid and the bottom half of the bowl are decorated with incised petals. Both the interior of the bowl and overall exterior are covered in a fnely crackled olive-green glaze, which ends at the shallow foot rim, exposing a pale buf colored clay body. The underside of the lid is unglazed except for a wiped glaze under the domed section.

There is one hairline crack to the mouth rim and chips to the foot.

A very similar piece is published in “Vietnamese Ceramics: A Separate Tradition” by John Stevenson and John Guy, Avery Press, 1997, pl. 112.

Another can be seen in “The Elephant and the Lotus “Vietnamese Ceramics in the Museum of Fine Arts” by Philippe Truong, Boston, Boston MFA, 2001, pl. 45.

Provenance: Mary and Cheney Cowles Collection.

A stoneware bowl with fared rim and straight foot rim. The interior has a band of scrolling foliage around the cavetto and a central medallion with a fower, all incised into a dark slip layer over an ivory white body. The exterior is similarly decorated with a large band of Ruyi petals under a narrow band of combed decoration, with a brown wash under the foot.

This type of ware is heavily infuenced by Northern Chinese Cizhou wares, both in technique and style.

Provenance: Mary and Cheney Cowles Collection.

Literature: Published in “Vietnamese Ceramics: A Separate Tradition” by John Stevenson and John Guy, Avery Press, 1997, pg. 250 #139

A stoneware bowl of globular form with carved ribs on the bottom half and concentric circles lightly incised beneath the mouth. The piece is covered on the interior and exterior with a dark mossy green translucent glaze. The foot rim is unglazed, with a shallow concave underfoot, and reveals a clay body fred to a buf color.

Provenance: Mary and Cheney Cowles Collection.

A small round stoneware bowl with reddish brown glaze punctuated with translucent amber and brown daubs, resembling tortoiseshell glazes of Chinese Jizhou wares. The straight foot rim and underfoot are unglazed, and show a stoneware body fred to a light buf color.

See several other examples of this type in “Vietnamese Ceramics: A Separate Tradition” by John Stevenson and John Guy, Avery Press, 1997, pg. 252.

Provenance: Mary and Cheney Cowles Collection.

A stoneware ewer of high-shouldered form with a short straight neck. The shoulder is surmounted by a short, fared spout and curled handle, with four lug handles interspersed between. The exterior is covered in a persimmon glaze with densely arranged streaks of brown and amber, in the style of Chinese Henan and Jizhou wares. The streaks continue down to the foot, which has a fattened rim and very shallow recess, where the clay body has fred to a buf color.

While plates and bowls with this glaze treatment are more commonly seen, complete ewers of this type are quite rare.

Provenance: Mary and Cheney Cowles Collection.

A charger with fattened rim and rounded edge. The rim has an interlocking geometric pattern in cobalt blue, under which the cavetto is decorated with an intricate scrolling lotus and peony pattern. A narrow band of stylized cloud and foral arabesques enclose a central medallion with a large lotus and stylized leaves. The underside is decorated with lotus petal lappets and a broad foot rim with brown glazed underfoot.

This piece is remarkable for its fne painting quality and rich blue cobalt color.

Provenance: Mary and Cheney Cowles Collection (Published as “Beiyuzhai Collection”).

Literature: Published in “Vietnamese Ceramics: A Separate Tradition” by John Stevenson and John Guy, Avery Press, 1997, pl. 240.

A large “Kendi” ceremonial pouring vessel. The compressed cushion shaped body has a large mammiform spout, tall fared neck and disc rim under a rounded mouth edge. The center of the body is decorated with intricately drawn scrolling peonies, above and below which are bands of lotus petal lappets. The spout has crossed sword and foliate motifs with a small band of lotus petals surrounding the narrow spout opening, (with chips and small crack.) The neck has a small band of geometric patterning and the disk has loosely drawn petals. All decoration is rendered in a vibrant cobalt blue under a shiny glaze. The foot is shallow and concave, and reveals a porcelain bisque fred to a tan color.

This piece has excellent glaze condition and painting, and is typical of pieces found in Indonesia in the early to mid-twentieth century.

Provenance: Adam Malik Collection
Mary and Cheney Cowles Collection.

A large “Kendi” ceremonial pouring vessel. The compressed cushion shaped body with large mammiform spout, tall fared neck and disc rim under a rounded mouth edge. The center of the body is decorated with intricately drawn Ky Lan mythical beasts bounding amongst clouds, under a narrow band of fowers, above which is a band of lotus petal lappets. There is another band of lotus petals surrounding the shallow concave foot. The spout has crossed sword and cloud motifs with a small band of lotus petal surrounding the narrow spout opening. The neck has a small band of geometric patterning and the disk has loosely drawn petals and is surmounted by a domed lid, which has a single fower on top, incorporating the small knob as its center. All decoration is rendered in a vibrant cobalt blue under a shiny glaze. The foot reveals a white porcelain bisque. There are repaired chips and fritting to the disk and small areas of glaze fritting on the lid.

Provenance: Hoi An Hoard, Butterfelds 2000
Mary and Cheney Cowles Collection.

A large stoneware pear shaped vase sitting on a slightly fared foot-rim with beveled edge, the underneath of which is decorated with an iron-oxide brown coating. The long neck has an extravagantly fared mouth-rim. Besides being unusually large, its potting and fring are extremely well controlled, and the creamy white surface remarkably consistent in color.

A similar piece is illustrated in “Vietnamese Ceramics: A Separate Tradition” by John Stevenson and John Guy, Avery Press, 1997, pl. 285. Another is published in “Vietnamese Ceramics”, Machida Municipal Museum, 1993, pl. 58.

With repaired mouth-rim chips.

Provenance: : Zetterquist Galleries, New York 2015
Mary and Cheney Cowles Collection.

A small fattened yuhuchun-ping vase with cobalt blue decoration of three islands set within an arabesque cartouche on front and back. Stylized cloud depictions are interspersed around the rest of the body, which is covered overall in a shiny, fnely crackled translucent glaze with a feint ivory tone. The underfoot is unglazed with the exception of a brown swirl in the center.

A similar piece is published in “Ceramics of Seduction; Glazed Wares from Southeast Asia” by Dawn Rooney, River Books, Bangkok, 2013, pl. 60.

Provenance: : Hoi An Hoard, Butterfelds, 2000
Mary and Cheney Cowles Collection.

Two double gourd shaped ewers with small spouts emanating from the top bulbous section. The main body is decorated with cobalt blue ducks and lotus between two bands of overlapping lotus petals, one just above the foot and the other shaded band, just below the neck. The necks have narrow bands of geometric patterns, and the upper bulbs are decorated with birds and fowing branches, all below a small inverted mouth

Provenance: : Hoi An Hoard, Butterfelds, 2000
Mary and Cheney Cowles Collection.

A bottle of double gourd form with compressed bottom section and long neck. The top bulb is onion-shaped ending in a small mouth. The bottom section is painted in underglaze cobalt blue with scrolling lotus and birds in fight, all between two bands of lotus lappets at the top and bottom of the body. A fared neck separates the two bulbs, the top having cloud and crossed sword motifs.

Provenance: : Hoi An Hoard, Butterfelds, 2000
Mary and Cheney Cowles Collection.

A globular jar with translucent glaze and underglaze cobalt blue depictions of birds perched in trees on the front and back, and smaller images of a bird in fight and another on a branch on the sides. There is a band of lotus petal lappets over the fattened foot-rim with shallow countersunk underfoot. A narrow band of cloud motifs is drawn under the slightly everted mouth rim.

Provenance: : Hoi An Hoard, Butterfelds, 2000
Mary and Cheney Cowles Collection.

A large ovoid jar with an everted, rolled mouth rim and four lug handles. The top third of the jar is decorated in a vibrant cobalt blue with a narrow band of coin motifs under the mouth, a band of scrolling lotus under that, and an ornate lappet of overlapping petals with internal arabesques. Just above the slightly concave, unglazed foot is a band of scrolling arabesques, with another upward pointing lappet of ruyi style petals with internal scrolling. The largest section of the body, between the top and bottom lappets, is left solid white, a remarkably unusual design for a Vietnamese piece of this period.

There is a hairline crack on the mouth rim that extends into the body. There are several areas of glaze and underlying slip fritting around the mouth rim and on one of the handles.

Provenance: Johnathan Leaver Collection
Alice and Robert Piccus Collection until 1984
The Mary and Cheney Cowles Collection.

Literature: Published in “Chinese and Annamese Ceramics by Adrian Joseph, London 1973. no. 114.
Published in “Vietnamese Ceramics: A Separate Tradition” by John Stevenson and John Guy, Avery Press, 1997. pl. 235.