'Blanc de Chine' and 'Kosometsuke & Shonzui' at Marchant

20 octobre 2024

'Blanc de Chine' and 'Kosometsuke & Shonzui' at Marchant

LONDON - Marchant presents two very special exhibitions, Blanc de Chine and Kosometsuke & Shonzui at our Kensington Church Street gallery for November 2024, coinciding with Asian Art in London. They showcase two of our favourite disciplines and mark a poignant farewell to the gallery's current location as we prepare for our exciting move to 26 Brook Street, Mayfair, in 2025.

The exhibitions are a testament to Marchant's long standing expertise in Asian ceramics. Blanc de Chine, the luminous white ceramic revered for its delicate beauty, will be presented for the fifth time since the gallery's 60th Anniversary exhibition in 1985. Kosometsuke, the captivating blue and white Ming dynasty porcelain ware for the Japanese market, is the focus for a third dedicated exhibition, though kosometsuke pieces have been featured within several other Marchant exhibitions.

Carefully curated by Marchant, the exhibitions both feature seventeenth-century exceptional examples of their type, meticulously selected for their rarity, condition, and fascinating provenance. Visitors can expect a beautiful array of Blanc de Chine figures, vases and other objects, each embodying the serene beauty and technical mastery of this coveted ceramic. The kosometsuke pieces will display a diverse selection of blue and white wares, including rare dishes, imaginative vessels, and captivating scenes on tea ceremony pieces. The Kosometsuke exhibition is particularly interesting because it has been assembled over almost 25 years.

This double exhibition offers a final opportunity for discerning collectors and art enthusiasts to experience shows at our Kensington Church Street location before the Spring 2025 move to Brook Street.

Highlights include

:Blanc de Chine figure of Guanyin, impressed He Chaozong Yin mark on the reverse, formerly in an important French private collection and sold by C.T. Loo, Paris.
A group of censers, which come from the collection of the dealer and collector Edward T. Chow (1910-1980).
A superior quality example of Guandi, showing the genius and skill of the potter through the robes, armour detail and incised anhua.
The remarkable Chinese porcelain kosometsuke blue and white nightlight modelled as a crouching tiger, from the Jintsu family in Tokyo, only one other similar example appears to be published.
The incense burner in the form of a rooster, no other exact examples appear published.
Several rare mukozuke, tea-ceremony sweetmeat dishes of animal forms.

The Kosometsuke exhibition also includes three Tianqi mark and period pieces, the fish-net dish is the only one Marchant has handled with a Tianqi mark.

Exhibition of Blanc de Chine and Exhibition of Kosometsuke & Shonzui, 28th October – 8th November 2024

'Blanc de Chine' and 'Kosometsuke & Shonzui' at Marchant

Chinese Blanc de Chine Guanyin, Late Ming dynasty, circa 1620-1640, Dehua, Fujian Province, 28.9 cm high. £POA © 2024 Marchant. 

seated with her hands covered by long flowing robes, with her right knee raised and one foot exposed, her hair neatly tied with a jewelled lingzhi tiara beneath an upright cowl, with serene features, elongated earlobes and an urna mark on her forehead, wearing a lotus flowerhead necklace, covered in a pale cream glaze pooling in the folds, all on an oval cushion with incised herringbone pattern.

The back impressed with a square four-character seal-mark of He Chaozong Yin.

The interior with ink-characters xian, “immortal”.

Provenance: Sold by Maison C.T. Loo, Paris.

From an important private French collection.

Note: Three other closely related models from the collection of the Imperial Court of the Qing Dynasty are illustrated by Wang Yamin and Huang Weiwen in Dehua Wares Collected by the Palace Museum I, nos. 26-28, pp. 92-101, no. 26 possesses a cowl, necklace and an identical base and was one of three Guanyin figures recorded as being worshipped at the Cining Palace; no. 27 has a necklace and the same base without the cowl and was worshipped in the Zhongcui Palace, built in the Yongle period, and used as a residence by the Ming and Qing emperors; no. 28 has a cowl and an identical base without the necklace and was recorded as being consecrated in the Chengde Summer Palace, with sutras placed within the figure during the Qianlong period, nos. 26 and 27 both have gourd marks.

An almost identical Guanyin with all the same features and the seal mark of He Chaozong Yin, and of similar height was lent by the Nelson Gallery, the Atkins Museum, and is illustrated by Suzanne G. Valenstein in Ming Porcelains: A Retrospective, 1970-1971, no. 69, p. 97.

A similar Guanyin bearing the same seal mark but without the cushion base from the collection of Mr. C. A. Weissing, was included by Marchant in their exhibition of Blanc de Chine, 2006, no. 3, pp. 12/13, and was featured on the front cover of Chinese Art Auction Records, 2008; another without a cowl and with a He Chaozong gourd mark, exhibited at the China Institute Gallery, New York, 2002 is illustrated by John Ayers in Blanc de Chine: Divine Images, no. 34, p. 83, and inside front cover.

Another with a gourd mark from the collection of Captain J. Meuldijk, the Netherlands was included by Marchant in their exhibition of Blanc de Chine, 2014, no. 1, pp. 8/9; a further example with a gourd mark and with the Guanyin holding a scroll on a similar base was included by Marchant in their exhibition of Blanc de Chine, 1985, no. 2, p. 6.

Guanyin, the goddess of Mercy, is usually depicted as a female deity in white robes, shoeless, looking slightly down with an expression of purity and wisdom, guan means to see; yin means sound, and together the words mean “she who sees and hears”.

From the collection of Edward T. Chow. Chinese Blanc de Chine incense burner, Late Ming, circa 1620-1640, Dehua, Fujian Province, 15.9 cm handle to handle, 12.9 cm diameter, 7 cm high. Wood stand and Edward T. Chow fitted box. M5501. Price: £28,500 © 2024 Marchant.

with rounded side and gently flared flattened rim, with two high-relief Buddhist lion mask handles with an elaborate mane of curls, all on a slightly splayed foot and lipped footrim, covered overall in an even pale cream glaze, the footrim unglazed, the well of the interior with three spur marks from the firing.
The underside with a six-character mark of Chenghua within a double rectangle.

Provenance : From the collection of Edward T. Chow.
Edward T. Chow (1910-1980) was born in Yangzhou and at the age of thirteen was sent to Shanghai to study with the art dealer Zhu Heting, he was also mentored by Jacob Melchior, a Danish collector working in the Customs Service. He met many of the great Western collectors and moved to Hong Kong in 1947 where he built his reputation as a dealer and significant collector of Chinese ceramics and works of art. In 1967 he moved to Geneva. Following his passing in 1980, his collection was auction in London and Hong Kong.
Sold by Sotheby’s Hong Kong in their auction of The Edward T. Chow Collection Part Three: Ming and Qing Porcelain and Works of Art, 19th May 1981, lot 486.
From the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Peter Thompson, included by The University of Hull Art Collection in their exhibition of Chinese Ceramics of the Transitional Period (circa 1620-1680 A.D.), and illustrated by James J. Lally in colour in the exhibition catalogue, no. 45.
Formerly in the collection of Mr. H. Soudavar.

Note: Two similar censers with Chenghua marks are illustrated, one from the Garner Collection by Soame Jenyns in Ming Pottery and Porcelain, pl. 116B, and one from the Percival David Collection by Hobson and Heatherington in Art of Chinese Potter, pl. CVII, fig. 2; another with an identical Chenghua mark is illustrated by Wang Yamin and Huang Weiwen in Dehua Wares Collected by the Palace Museum I, no. 123, pp. 288/9.

of bombé form, with gently flared lipped rim and splayed footrim with ribbed edge, set with Buddhist lion mask handles with curled hairwork, covered overall in a rich and even pale cream glaze, the well of the interior unglazed, the base with an impressed six-character seal mark of Xuande within a recessed rectangle.

Provenance : From the collection of Edward T. Chow.
Edward T. Chow (1910-1980) was born in Yangzhou and at the age of thirteen was sent to Shanghai to study with the art dealer Zhu Heting, he was also mentored by Jacob Melchior, a Danish collector working in the Customs Service. He met many of the great Western collectors and moved to Hong Kong in 1947 where he built his reputation as a dealer and significant collector of Chinese ceramics and works of art. In 1967 he moved to Geneva. Following his passing in 1980, his collection was auction in London and Hong Kong.
Sold by Sotheby’s Hong Kong in their auction of The Edward T. Chow Collection, Part Three, Ming and Qing Porcelain and Works of Art, 19th May 1981, lot 485.
Sold by Spink & Son, London.
Formerly in the collection of Mr. H. Soudavar.

Note: Two similar censers with Xuande marks and dated to the Ming dynasty are illustrated by Wang Yamin and Huang Weiwen in Dehua Wares Collected by the Palace Museum I, nos. 121 & 122, pp. 284-287.
A related censer is illustrated by Rose Kerr and John Ayers in Blanc de Chine, Porcelain from Dehua, A Catalogue of the Hickley Collection, Singapore, no. 74, where the authors note that Donnelly dated these wares to between 1644 and sometime after 1702, on the basis of comparable vases and censers with the same applied lion-mask motifs. However, it has been noted that such vases are not reliable indicators due to their variable quality and the continuous production of this type until the nineteenth-century. More plausible comparative forms are thought to be the bronze and cloisonné censers of the late Ming dynasty.
Two other examples with different marks are illustrated by Marchant in their exhibition of Blanc de Chine, 1985, nos. 26 & 27, p. 20; three further examples are illustrated by Marchant in their exhibition of Blanc de Chine, 2006, nos. 73, 73A & 73b, pp. 110/1; and another with a different mark is illustrated by Marchant in their exhibition of Blanc de Chine, 2014, no. 87, p. 115.

From the collection of Edward T. Chow. Chinese Blanc de Chine incense burner, Late Ming, circa 1620-1640, Dehua, Fujian Province; 13.7 cm handle to handle; 10.7 cm diameter of rim; 8.2 cm high. Wood stand and Edward T. Chow fitted box, M5500. Price: £32,000 © 2024 Marchant.

in the form of an archaic bronze gui, with two elephant-head ring handles, gently flared rim and splayed raised foot with ribbed edge, covered overall in an even cream glaze extending to the base, the well of the interior unglazed, the underside with a four-character impressed seal mark Ding Shui Qi Zhen, “Rare treasure of Ding Shui”.

Provenance : From the collection of Edward T. Chow.
Edward T. Chow (1910-1980) was born in Yangzhou and at the age of thirteen was sent to Shanghai to study with the art dealer Zhu Heting, he was also mentored by Jacob Melchior, a Danish collector working in the Customs Service. He met many of the great Western collectors and moved to Hong Kong in 1947 where he built his reputation as a dealer and significant collector of Chinese ceramics and works of art. In 1967 he moved to Geneva. Following his passing in 1980, his collection was auction in London and Hong Kong.
Sold by Sotheby’s Hong Kong in their auction of The Edward T. Chow Collection, Part Three, Ming and Qing Porcelain and Works of Art, 19th May 1981, lot 475, p. 87, illustration p. 93.
Sold by Spink & Son, London.
Formerly in the collection of Mr. H. Soudavar.

Note: A censer of this form is illustrated by P. J. Donnelly in Blanc de Chine, 1969, pl. 11D, who records the seal mark as “P.360, F8f ” and discusses it on p. 260; another bearing the same mark is illustrated by Marchant in their exhibition of Blanc de Chine, 1994, no. 95, p. 63; another is illustrated by Wang Yamin and Huang Weiwen in Dehua Wares Collected by the Palace Museum I, no. 136, pp. 314/5.

seated on a throne and looking to the left, his right hand holding up his belt, while his left hand rests on his knee, his long flowing robes incised with a central dragon, uncovered at the shoulder, knee and chest to reveal detailed armour, his hair tied with a cap and a headdress of the rising sun above ruyi-clouds, covered overall in a rich and even cream glaze.
The base incised with a three-character mark, Yi zis un, “blessing for your son and grandson”.

Provenance : From an important private Hong Kong collection.
Sold by Marchant, 26th March 1998.
Formerly in the collection of Marvin Davidson, New York.

Note: Figures of Guandi pulling up his belt are rare. Related models with Guandi clasping his hands beneath his robes are known, one was included by Marchant in their exhibition of Blanc de Chine, 2014, no. 17, pp. 36/7; another is included by P. J. Donnelly in Blanc de Chine, pl. 97A; a further example is illustrated by J.P. Palmer in A Young Collector of Blanc de Chine, The Connoisseur Magazine, no. 3, p. 4; another described as Guanyu (general of the Three Kingdoms), is illustrated by Wang Yamin and Huang Weiwen in Dehua Wares Collected by the Palace Museum I, nos. 61 & 63, pp. 172/3 and 176/7.
This model of Guandi is related to the famous dated example in the British Museum, museum no. 1930,1113.1, illustrated by Jessica Harrison-Hall in Ming Ceramics in the British Museum, no. 17:8, p. 511, dated to the forty-seventh year of Wanli, corresponding to 1610, again holding his belt and wearing an official incised dragon robe.

with head raised, open mouth, biscuit tongue, bulging eyes and upright ears, with a wang character on his forehead, the body striped and painted with hairwork on a pale blue-washed ground, the dappled spine extending to a long relief tail along its back with a cash-form aperture, the base unglazed with large open rectangular section to hold the candle.

Provenance: From the Jintsu-Seigando Collection, acquired by Mr. Jintsu’s father in Toyama over 30 years ago.
Sold by Jintsu-Seigando, 7th June 2018.

Literature: Included by Marchant in their exhibition of Kosometsuke & Shonzui, 2024, no. 11, pp. 38-41.

Note: Only one other similar example is recorded and was included by the Nezu Institute of Fine Arts in their exhibition of The World of the Dragon and Tiger, Tokyo, 1986, no. 91, p. 72, and is now illustrated by Teresa Canepa in The RA Collection of Chinese Ceramics, a collectors vision, Volume 4, no. 11, pp. 40/1.
Two other related models of tigers described as pillows, each with open mouth and two openwork cash apertures on their backs, one with a large rectangular aperture in the back of the model to probably hold a candle or incense, are illustrated by Junkichi Mayuyama in Mayuyama, Seventy Years, Volume One, no. 987, p. 330 and by Masahiko Kawahara in Ko-sometsuke, Monochrome Section, nos. 489 & 490, p. 128.
Cat nightlights on stands are well-known and one salvaged by Captain Michael Hatcher from a Chinese junk which sank in the South China Sea circa 1643 is illustrated by Colin Sheaf and Richard Kilburn in The Hatcher Porcelain Cargoes, The Complete Record, pl. 111, p. 71; another is illustrated by Jessica Harrison-Hall in Ming Ceramics in the British Museum, no. 12:91, p. 390.
Cat-form nightlights continued to be produced into the Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty. An example was included by Marchant in their catalogue of Recent Acquisitions, 2004, no. 39, pp. 54/5, where it notes, “A similar nightlight of slightly smaller size from the bequest of the widow of J. T. Royer to King William I, 1814, in the Royal Cabinet of Curiosities, transferred to the Rijksmuseum in 1883, is illustrated by Christiaan J.A. Jörg in, Chinese Ceramics in the Collection of The Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, no. 257, p. 226”. It also notes, “Pere d’Entrecolles, writing from Jingdezhen in 1712, said: ‘I have seen a cat painted after life, in the head of which a little lamp was put to illuminate the eyes, and was assured that in the night the rats were terrified by it’”.
A cat-form incense holder and stand was included by Marchant in their exhibition of Ming Porcelain for the Japanese Market, Ko-sometsuke & Ko-akai, 2008, no. 21, pp. 46/7 and front cover.
A cat-form sweetmeat dish, mukozuke, painted with stripes and a similar tail, was included by Marchant in their exhibition of Two Hundred Years of Chinese Porcelain 1522-1722, 1998, no. 31, p. 47.
In the Arts Council of Great Britain and the Oriental Ceramic Society exhibition of The Animal in Chinese Art, at the Arts Council Gallery in 1968, it notes, “The tiger, not the lion, is king of beasts to the Chinese. This was perhaps inevitable once it was noticed that the character wang, king or prince, is clearly discernible in the markings on the creature’s forehead. The tiger accordingly features prominently in Chinese mythology. At all times it has been emblematic of courage and by extension the badge of high military rank though, curiously, not the highest—that was reserved for the lion. Tiger claws and whiskers were talismans against fear and tiger amulets ward off all forms of ill-luck”. A Cizhou pillow in the form of a tiger, with a wang character on its forehead, in the Victoria and Albert Museum, is illustrated by Rose Kerr in Song Dynasty Ceramics, no. 70, p. 72.

the moulded body standing on a pierced openwork base with splayed claws, the upright tail and wings painted with feathers, the cover in the form of the rooster’s head with jowls and comb, with openwork on the neck, beak and eyes.

Provenance: From the collection of Colonel W. R. Hodgson (1892-1958).
Purchased in Tokyo in the early 1950’s on the advice of Professor Fujio Koyama of the Tokyo National Museum.

Note: Lieutenant Colonel William Roy Hodgson, CMG, OBE, was born in Kingston, Victoria, and educated at the School of Mines, Ballarat, and, as a member of the original class of 1911, at the Royal Military College, Duntroon, Australian Capital Territory. He graduated in 1914, was appointed to the First Australian Imperial Force and posted to Egypt before fighting in the Gallipoli Campaign. He was wounded by a Turkish sniper and was believed dead. He returned to Australia in 1917 after being awarded the Croix de Guerre avec Palme. In 1945 Hodgson served as Acting High Commissioner to Canada and was then appointed ambassador to France. In that year he also attended the UN Conference on International Organisation in San Francisco and was leader of the Australian Delegation to the UN Preparatory Commission in London. His significant achievements include being involved in the formation of the United Nations General Assembly and representing Australia internationally at many diplomatic conferences during the Second World War, and being a member of the drafting committee of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights. He was the Australian representative on the Security Council and the Human Rights Commission. He was also an Australian delegate to the Paris Peace Treaties, 1947.
Sold by Dreweatts in their auction of Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 11th November 2019, lot 1.
Included by Marchant in their exhibition of Kosometsuke & Shonzui, 2024, no. 12, pp. 42/45.
No other rooster or chicken-form censer appears to be published.

on three circular feet with its head turned back, the underside moulded with the ears, eyes and tail painted to highlight the features.

Provenance: Sold by Shogado, Tokyo, 21st June 2017.

Literature: Included by Marchant in their exhibition of Kosometsuke & Shonzui, 2024, no. 22, pp. 64/65.

Note: One from a mixed set of six and one with colour probably added later, all in the Sekido Museum of Art, Adachi City, Tokyo, are illustrated in their catalogue of Kosometsuke, 2017, no. 94, p. 144 and no. 113, p. 163 respectively; another also from a mixed set of six, in the Sato collection, Kanagawa Prefecture, was included in the Kyoto National Museum special exhibition of Chinese Ceramics, the Most Popular Works amongst Japanese, 1991, no. 174; a set of five similar dishes are illustrated by Masahiko Kawahara in Ko-sometsuke, Colour Section, no. 155, pp. 192/193 and in the Monochrome Section, no. 720, p. 187.
This shaped sweetmeat dish, called in Japanese mukozuke, were used in the tea-ceremony or the meal afterwards.
Eight different sweetmeat dishes were included by Marchant in their exhibition of Ming Porcelain for the Japanese Market, Ko-sometsuke and Ko-akai, 2008, nos. 11-19, pp. 30-43; and seven further different sweetmeat dishes were included by Marchant in their exhibition of Transitional Wares for the Japanese and Domestic Markets, 1989, nos. 9-15, pp. 16-19.

the details picked out in lines, blue wash and splashed on both sides with fukizumi, the underside moulded with the head and tail outlined, all on three short feet.

Provenance: Originally from a set of five, purchased at Ikeuchi, Tokyo, 23rd May 2009.

Literature: Included by Marchant in their exhibition of Kosometsuke & Shonzui, 2024, no. 23, pp. 66/67.

Note: Another from this set was included by Marchant in their catalogue of Recent Acquisitions, 2010, no. 13, pp. 22/3.
A set of five in the Tekisui Fine Arts Museum, Ashiya, Japan, are illustrated by Masahiko Kawahara in Ko-sometsuke, Colour Section, no. 154, pp. 190/1.
Another is included by Julia B. Curtis in Trade Taste and Transformation, Jingdezhen Porcelain for Japan, 1620-1645, China Institute Gallery, 2006, no. 28, p. 58, where the author notes, “In China, the ox has been revered for countless centuries. It is the symbol of spring and of agriculture, a patient beast of burden which pulled the plow for peasants affluent enough to feed one. Oxen have also long been associated with water. In very early China, figures of oxen were placed in rivers as talismans when dykes threatened to give way. In Japan, the ox has similar connotations, and its image was used as a talisman against smallpox and other illnesses”.

Two Chinese porcelain kosometsuke blue and white sweetmeat dishes, mukozuke, each in the form of a recumbent horse, Tianqi, 1621-1627. One 17.2 cm long, the other 17.4 cm long. M2170. £16,000 © 2024 Marchant.

on four short round feet, the details painted in outline and blue wash, the underside moulded and outlined to reveal the features, mane and tail.

Provenance: Formerly in the Yoshii family collection, Edo period.
Sold by Kippei Art Company, Tokyo, 23rd May 2009.

Literature: Included by Marchant in their exhibition of Kosometsuke & Shonzui, 2024, no. 24, pp. 68/69.

Note: No other horses of this exact group appear recorded.
There are at least five different types of recumbent horse models known. (A) This plain model with a washed border and complete outline on the reverse. (B) This model with dappling. (C) Another plain model without the washed border and only the head outlined with fukizumi on the reverse. (D) Model C with dappling, the reverse with only the head outlined and fukizumi. (E) Model C with dappling of larger flowers and fukizumi.
A composite set of five, four of this model with dappling, (B), and one of (D), is illustrated by Saito Kikutaro in Complete Collection of Ceramics, vol. 15, Kosometsuke, p. 62, and by Masahiko Kawahara in Ko-sometsuke, Monochrome Section, no. 723, p. 189, and also by Senju Sato and Takeshi Mayuyama in Kosometsuke, no. 72, p. 105, and by the Sekido Museum of Art, Adachi City, Tokyo, in their catalogue of Kosometsuke, 2017, no. 108, p. 158.
A pair of plain dishes of model (C) were included by Marchant in their exhibition of Chinese Blue and White, Wan Li to K’ang Hsi, 1980, no. 12; another in Transitional Wares for the Japanese and Domestic Markets, 1989, no. 13, p. 18; and another in Recent Acquisitions, 2010, no. 14, pp. 22/3; another of model (C), from the Effie B. Allison collection, gift of J. V. West and B. V. Gewald, now in the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, was included by Julia B. Curtis in the exhibition of Trade Taste and Transformation, Jingdezhen Porcelain for Japan, 1620-1645, China Institute Gallery, 2006, no. 30, p. 59.
Another composite set of five made up of models (C), (D) and (E) is illustrated by the Iida City Art Museum, Nagano, Japan, in their catalogue of The Watahan Nohara Collection, 2000, no. 113, p. 72.

Posté par Alain Truong à 13:03 - Commentaires […] - Permalien [#]

Tags: Chinese Blue and White Porcekain, Blanc de Chine, Kosometsuke, Shonzui, Guanyin, Late Ming Dynasty, Collection of Edward T. Chow, incense burner, Dehua, Guandi, blue and white, crouching tiger, Tianqi, rooster, Wanli-Tianqi, recumbent elephant, recumbent buffalo