Lot 3857. Property from the Victor Shaw Collection. A Yaozhou moon-white glazed vase, Song dynasty (960-1279); 28.5 cm. Lot Sold 3,840,000 HKD (Estimate 200,000 - 400,000 HKD) © Sotheby's 2024

Provenance: A Hong Kong private collection, 1990s, and then by family descent.

Lot 3865. A russet-splashed black-glazed 'partridge feather' bowl, Northern Song dynasty (960-1127); 12.4 cm. Lot Sold 120,000 HKD (Estimate 100,000 - 200,000 HKD) © Sotheby's 2024

Provenance: An Asian private collection.

Note: Notable for its thickly applied and particularly lustrous black glaze, this tea bowl is covered with splashes that have pulled downward with gravity, becoming large vertical brown streaks. The exterior of both bowls are entirely covered in a russet-brown glaze, a common practice at Cizhou kilns in the 11th and early 12th century.

Teabowls similarly decorated with asymmetrical vertical streaks include three reconstructed examples recovered from the Guantai kiln site in Ci county, Hebei province, and illustrated in The Cizhou Kiln Site at Guantai, Beijing, 1997, pl. 65, fig. 1; a bowl sold in our London rooms, 20th June 2001, lot 64; and another sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 1st June 2016, lot 3124.

Lot 3870. A small Yue celadon 'peony' vase, Northern Song dynasty (960-1127); 15.2 cm, Japanese wood box. Lot Sold 1,680,000 HKD (Estimate 500,000 - 800,000 HKD) © Sotheby's 2024

Provenance: A Japanese private collection.

Literature: Chinese Ceramics Series 7: Celadon from the Yue Kiln II from the Tang to Northern Song Dynasty , The Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka, 1994, pl. 76.

Note: It is exceptionally rare to find Yue celadon vase of this form. The vase's high status is reflected in the lavish decorations, among which the relief carving, such as that displayed on the current piece, is the most sophisticated and expensive technique. No other vase of this form and decorations appear to be recorded. Compare, however, a Yue celadon box decorated with similar peony motif in the Art Institute of Chicago, and is illustrated by Yutaka Mino and KR Tsiang, Ice and Green Clouds: Traditions of Chinese Celadon , Indianapolis Museum of Art, 1986, pp. 132-133, pl. 49. Compare, also, a fragment of a similar Yue celadon 'peony' box found at the Yue kilns in Shangyu Xian, illustrated in ibid, p. 132, fig . 49b. Compare also another box with a countersunk base and carved with a very similar decoration, illustrated in Zhongguo taoci quanji: Yueyao , vol. 4, Shanghai, 1981, pl. 183

Lot 3867. A very rare and massive Dingyao carved 'fish' basin, Northern Song-Jin dynasty (960-1234); 33 cm. Lot Sold 4,320,000 HKD (Estimate 3,500,000 - 6,800,000 HKD) © Sotheby's 2024

Provenance: Sotheby's Hong Kong, 31st October 1995, lot 343.
Sotheby's New York, 31st March 2005, lot 32.
Christie’s Hong Kong, 27th November 2019, lot 3058.

Literature: Sotheby's Thirty Years in Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 2003, pl. 103.

Note: This monumental basin is among the largest pieces of Ding ware recorded, and it is very rare to find a piece with such bold large-scale carving. The decoration on the present bowl is particularly successful, since the carp is very confidently drawn and prominently placed. No Ding ware of similar size and design seems to be recorded in any museum worldwide. The basin also features lotus petals carved on the outside, one of the most representative patterns of Ding ware vessels of various shapes. Ding white ware made in Quyang, Hebei province, ranks among the Five Great Wares of the Song dynasty (960-1279) and is one of the most famous types of Chinese ceramics. Because of their fame and excellent quality, Ding wares were not only highly favoured by the royal court and upper classes, but also found their way to other countries such as Koryo (918-1392) at the time of their manufacture. Compare a basin with a carved fish inside and plain outside, of smaller size and with no foot, and a covered jar and a deep rounded bowl with lotus petals carved outside, illustrated in Chinese Ceramics in the National Museum of Korea, Seoul, 2007, pls 68, 30-31.

In the Palace Museum, Beijing is a basin of similar size, but with the large carp replaced by a pair of much smaller fish; see the exhibition Selection of Ding Ware. The Palace Museum's Collection and Archaeological Excavations, Beijing, 2012, cat. no. 53. Only one piece similar in size and design to the present basin seems to have appeared at auction, sold in our London rooms, 11th May 2016, lot 32. A fragment of a similar basin, found at the Ding kilns during excavations carried out jointly by the School of Archaeology and Museology, Peking University, and Hebei archaeologists, is illustrated in the exhibition catalogue Ding Kiln of China, Beijing Art Museum, Beijing, 2012, cat. no. 162.

Smaller basins carved with a single fish are known in a few world-famous collections; see two examples now in the British Museum, London, one from the Sir Percival David Collection, no. A PDF-154, published in Mary Tregear, Song Ceramics, London, 1982, col. pl. 29, the other from the Eumorfopoulos collection, no. A 1937-0716-61, illustrated in R.L. Hobson, The Eumorfopoulos Collection, vol. III, London, 1926, pl. XXVII, no. C 133. Another basin in a private collection, included in the exhibition Chinese Ceramics from the Prehistoric Period through Ch’ien Lung, Los Angeles County Museum, Los Angeles, 1952, cat. no. 143, is discussed in Henry Trubner, ‘A Ting-yao Bowl of the Sung Dynasty’, Far Eastern Ceramic Bulletin, vol. III, no. 4, 1951, pp. 21-23 and illustrated pls I and II.

Large Ding basins are more often decorated on the inside with lotus scrolls only, like three pieces in the Palace Museum, Taiwan, published in the Illustrated Catalogue of Sung Dynasty Porcelain in the Palace Museum: Ting Ware and Ting-type Ware, Taipei, 1973, cat. no. 34; in the exhibition catalogue Song ci tezhan [Special Exhibition of Sung Wares], Taipei, 1978, cat. no. 27; and the Catalogue of the Special Exhibition of Ting Ware White Porcelain, Taipei, 1987, cat. no. 32, the latter together with a basin of single-fish motif, of smaller size and plain outside, cat. no. 31. See also a further lotus-incised example, of slightly smaller size, from the collection of William Cleverley Alexander, sold in our London rooms, 6th May 1931, lot 48, and again at Christie's Hong Kong, 30th November 2020, lot 3001.

Lotus petal decoration similar to the present basin features prominently among Ding vessels of various shapes recovered from the foundations of two Northern Song pagodas in Dingzhou, Hebei province, close to the Ding kilns, one belonging to the Jingzhi Temple, built in AD 977, the other to the Jingzhongyuan Temple, built in AD 995; see the exhibition catalogue Treasures from the Underground Palaces, Idemitsu Museum of Arts, Tokyo, 1997, passim.

According to Ts’ai Mei-fen of the Palace Museum, Taipei, 'metal-banded rim [for ceramics] was the popular taste of the time', see Ts’ai Mei-fen, ‘A Discussion of Ting Ware with Unglazed Rims and Related Twelfth-Century Official Porcelain’, Arts of the Sung and Yüan, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1996, pp. 109-131. Compare a famous Ding ware lobed basin with metal-bound rim, incised with a peony in the centre and lotuses around the well, formerly in the collections of Alfred and Ivy Clark, and Sakamoto Goro, sold in these rooms, 2nd March 1971, lot 135; and again in these rooms, 8th April 2014, lot 11.

Lot 3860. Property from the Poon Family Collection. Two Junyao purple-splashed dishes, Song-Yuan dynasty (960-1368); 11.8 and 17 cm. Lot Sold 384,000 HKD (Estimate 60,000 - 80,000 HKD) © Sotheby's 2024

Provenance: The Canton Collection, Hong Kong, and thence by family descent.

Exhibited: Larger dish: Selected Treasures of Chinese Art, Min Chiu Society Thirtieth Anniversary Exhibition, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1990-91, cat. no. 96.

Lot 3863. Property from the Poon Family Collection. A Junyao blue-glazed dish and a purple-splashed bowl, Song-Yuan dynasty (960-1368); 11.2 and 20.5 cm. Lot Sold 60,000 HKD (Estimate 30,000 - 60,000 HKD) © Sotheby's 2024

Provenance: The Canton Collection, Hong Kong, and thence by family descent.

Lot 3864. Property from the Poon Family Collection. A Junyao purple-splashed jar, Song-Yuan dynasty (960-1368); w. 14 cm. Lot Sold 60,000 HKD (Estimate 30,000 - 50,000 HKD) © Sotheby's 2024

Provenance: The Canton Collection, Hong Kong, and thence by family descent.

Lot 3873. A rare black-glazed 'oil spot' vase, Jin dynasty (1115-1234); 23 cm, the base inscribed with a wen character. Lot Sold 90,000 HKD (Estimate 60,000 - 200,000 HKD) © Sotheby's 2024

Provenance: Sotheby's Hong Kong, 29th-30th November 2018, lot 383.

Note: 'Oil spot' glazes were a specialty of the Linfen, Huairen, and Jiexiu kilns of Shanxi province, which mostly used them on small bowls, possibly inspired by the rare 'oil spot' tea bowls of the Jian kilns of Fujian. 'Oil spot' ' vases are very rare. The markings were probably formed by applying an iron-saturated slip on the body under the glaze, a new technique developed to cater to the subtle, refined tastes of the time. With a lustrous black glaze suffused with an intricate pattern of iridescent silver spots of varying sizes, the pattern of oil-spot wares was associated with starry nights or melting snow as described in contemporaneous literature. A vessel of this form was most likely used for serving wine.

Compare two larger vases of this type , but covered with finer rust-brown spots, one preserved in the Palace Museum, Taipei (accession no. gou ci 000158); and another in the Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis (accession no. 99.69.2). Oil-spot markings closely related to those on the current vase are more often found on bowls, see, for example, a bowl now in the Palace Museum, Beijing (accession no. 2365-106080).

Lot 3858. A russet-painted black-glazed jar, Jin-Yuan dynasty (1115-1368); h. 17.5 cm. Lot Sold 240,000 HKD (Estimate 200,000 - 400,000 HKD) © Sotheby's 2024

Provenance: Offered at Christie's New York, 21st September 2004, lot 206

Note: It is uncommon to find black-glazed vessels boldly decorated with large and evenly arranged brown splashes as can be seen on the present piece. Dark wares of similar form were more often found with painted decorations of birds or plants; those featuring purely abstract brushwork such as this are rare. The russet brushstrokes on this jar not only have a strong calligraphic quality that would have appealed to the literati of the time but also have an abstract element that gives this vessel a strikingly contemporary feel. With a smooth and dark surface which reflects light almost like a mirror, this glossy black jar is exceptionally impressive.

Kilns in Northern China, especially those in Henan, Hebei, and Shandong provinces, were particularly active in producing black wares. Since around the 12th century, potters had begun to add painted decoration on dark-glazed vessels, both in the form of representational designs and more abstract markings. Painted with simple spots or strokes that favour elegance over extravagance, these wares possess a minimalistic beauty that aligned very closely with the aesthetics of the time.

Compare a taller, more olive-shape vase with a similar pattern, included in the exhibition Chinese Ceramics from the Prehistoric Period through Ch’ien Lung, Los Angeles County Museum, Los Angeles, 1952, cat. no. 207; a jar with slightly irregular markings from the Avery Brundage Collection, now in the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco (accession no. B70P15), illustrated in He Li, Chinese Ceramics, London, 1996, pl. 311; a baluster vase painted with markings more similar to the present piece sold in our London rooms, 9th June 2004, lot 163; and a wide-mouthed jar with splashes of various sizes sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 11th July 2020, lot 120.

Lot 3861. Property from the Poon Family Collection. A rare Junyao purple-splashed ruyi-shaped washer, Yuan-Ming dynasty (1115-1368); 12.8 cm. Lot Sold 240,000 HKD (Estimate 150,000 - 300,000 HKD) © Sotheby's 2024

Provenance: Collection of W.W. Winkworth (1897-1991).
Sotheby's London, 15th July 1980, lot 53.
The Canton Collection, Hong Kong, and thence by family descent.

Lot 3866. Property from the Poon Family Collection. A Junyao purple-splashed tripod incense burner, Yuan-Ming dynasty (1279-1644); h. 20.6 cm. Lot Sold 216,000 HKD (Estimate 180,000 - 300,000 HKD) © Sotheby's 2024

Provenance: Acquired in Hong Kong in the early 1990s.

Lot 3861. A fine and brilliantly splashed lavender-glazed Junyao narcissus bowl, Early Ming dynasty (1368-1644); 20 cm, the base incised si ('four'), wood stand. Lot Sold 4,800,000 HKD (Estimate 3,000,000 - 5,000,000 HKD) © Sotheby's 2024

Provenance: Christie's Hong Kong, 25th October 1993, lot 705.
Sotheby's New York, 18th March 2008, lot 100.

Note: 'Jun' ware derives its beauty from the striking and thick opaque glaze of varied bright blue colouration that becomes almost translucent around the rim and the edges of the vessel, where the glaze thins significantly. Although 'Jun' wares are known as one of the five 'classic wares' of the Song period, mould-made flower vessels, such as the present narcissus bowl, are now overwhelmingly attributed both by Chinese and Western scholars to the types made at Yuzhou, Henan province, an area formerly known as Junzhou, from the Jin (1115-1234), Yuan (1279-1368) or the Ming period onwards. Regina Krahl in Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, vol. 3, pt. II, London, 2006, p. 456, notes that 'Jun' is not mentioned in any pre-Ming text, and although it was later ranked among the five 'classic wares' of the Song, the exact identity of Song 'Jun' is still a matter of debate. It was a ware that seems to have appealed particularly to the elite from the Jin Dynasty onwards, when some of the most spectacular and complex pieces were being made.

The present narcissus bowl is arguably one of the finest examples of 'Jun' vessels of this type. It is covered with an especially thick and rich opaque blue glaze of striking blue colouration that characteristically pools, forming a prominent edge below the 'drum-nail' bosses around the rim and the base. Although the glaze is of an unusually rich texture, it is expertly applied to expose the moulded decoration. It is comparable to a narcissus bowl with sky-blue glaze and the numeral yi (‘one’) in the Qing court collection, included in the exhibition catalogue Selection of Jun Ware. The Palace Museum's Collection and Archaeological Excavation, Palace Museum, Beijing, 2013, cat. no. 115.

Mould-made vessels of this type are frequently identified with numbers from one to ten on the base. The significance of the numbers inscribed on the vessels remains an enigma. The numbers coincide roughly with different sizes, yi ('one') being the largest and shi ('ten') the smallest version of the shape. This would help to match sets of flower pots and their stands but does not explain the appearance of numbers on the base of vases and bulb bowls, as seen on the present bowl, which generally comes on their own. For further information, see George J. Lee, 'Numbered Chun Ware', Transactions of the Oriental Ceramic Society, vol. 21, 1945-46, p. 61, where five 'numbered Jun' vessels from the collection of Ernest B. and Helen Pratt Dane, possibly one of the most important collectors of 'numbered Jun' wares outside China, and now in the Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, Mass., are recorded.

Bulb bowls of this form, with the same numeral on the base, are included in the Illustrated Catalogue of Sung Dynasty Porcelain in the Palace Museum: Ju Ware, Kuan Ware, Chun Ware, Tokyo, 1973, pls. 64 and 66, both with purple splashes added to the glaze; and two blue-glazed examples inscribed with the numeral yi ('one') are illustrated ibid., pls. 65 and 67, the latter with the so-called 'moon-white' glaze. A blue-glazed bulb bowl with the numeral si ('four'), from the Reach Family Collection and the collection of Dr. W. Kilgenberg, Bonn, was included in the exhibition Chinese Art from the Reach Family Collection, Eskenazi, London, 1989, cat. no. 24, and sold in these rooms, 2nd May 2000, lot 590; and one from the collections of Harcourt Johnstone and Enid and Brodie Lodge was sold in our London rooms in 1940 and 1972 and again in these rooms, 30th April 1996, lot 306.

A further larger blue-glazed example can be found in the Idemitsu collection, Tokyo, illustrated in Chinese Ceramics in the Idemitsu Collection, Tokyo, 1987, pl. 104; and fragments of what appears to be a slightly smaller vessel is included in the Museum of History publication The Ancient Kilns of Henan Province, Taipei, 2002, p. 196. Compare also a slightly larger bowl, from the T.Y. Chao collection, sold in these rooms, 19th May 1987, lot 210; and a much smaller vessel inscribed with the numeral jiu ('nine') but covered with a closely related brilliant blue glaze, from the J.M. Hu Family collection, sold in these rooms, 26th March 1996, lot 154.

Sotheby's. Chinese Art, Hong Kong, 26 November 2024