Lot 908. From The Au Bak Ling Collection. A fine and rare small Ding water pot, Five Dynasties (907-960); 5.5 cm high. Price realised HKD 762,000 (Estimate HKD 200,000 – HKD 400,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2025
 

Provenance: Edward T. Chow (1910-1980)
The Edward T. Chow Collection, Part Two, sold at Sotheby's London, 16 December 1980, lot 248.

Note: This delicate water pot is finely potted of an unusual shape with a sharp angular profile, which may have been influenced by a metal prototype. A very similar water pot from the Ingram Collection, possibly the same example as the current lot, was included in the Exhibition of Chinese Art, Palazzo Ducale, Venice, 1954, cat. 349f.

Lot 901. From The Au Bak Ling Collection. A fine and very rare small Jun sky-blue glazed censer, Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127); 5.5 cm high. Price realised HKD 2,540,000 (Estimate HKD 600,000 – HKD 800,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2025
 

Provenance: Edward T. Chow (1910-1980)
The Edward T. Chow Collection, Part Two, sold at Sotheby's London, 16 December 1980, lot 271.

Note: It is very rare to find a Jun censer of this type with a ring foot, as most examples are in the form of a tripod in imitation of the archaic bronze ding. A tripod example in Taiwan is illustrated in Porcelain of the National Palace Museum: Chun Ware of the Sung Dynasty, Hong Kong, 1961, no. 42; another is illustrated by Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, London, 1994, vol. I, no. 391.

Lot 902. From The Au Bak Ling Collection. A fine and superb Jun sky-blue glazed dish, Northern Song Dynasty, 11-12th century; 17.8 cm diam. Price realised HKD 1,206,500 (Estimate HKD 600,000 – HKD 800,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2025
 

Provenance: Frank Caro (1904-1980), successor to C. T. Loo, New York, no. 5680 (according to label)
Sold at Christie's New York, 28 October 1977, lot 65.

Note: The simple form of the current dish well complements the soft opalescent glaze characterising the best Jun wares of this period. A Jun dish with a similar pale blue glaze and everted rim, but with spur marks within the foot ring, is in the National Palace Museum, Taipei (museum number guci 000044N000000000). Another similar dish was formerly in the collection of Mrs. Alfred Clark, illustrated in Basil Gray, Early Chinese Pottery and Porcelain, London, 1953, pl. 84.
 

Lot 903. From The Au Bak Ling Collection. A rare and exquisite Qingbai ‘chilong’ cup, Southern Song-Yuan Dynasty (1127-1368); 13 cm wide. Price realised HKD 1,143,000 (Estimate HKD 500,000 – HKD 700,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2025
 

Provenance: Carl Kempe (1884-1967)
Sold at Sotheby's London, 14 May 2008, lot 319.

Literature: Bo Gyllensvärd, Chinese Ceramics in the Carl Kempe Collection, Stockholm, 1964, no. 533
Oriental Ceramics, vol. 8: The World's Great Collections- Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockholm, Tokyo, 1982, no. 183
Chinese Ceramics in the Carl Kempe Collection, The Museum of Art and Far Eastern Antiquities, Ulricehamn, 2002, no. 730.

Exhibited: Kunst Industri Museet, Copenhagen, 1950
Palazzo Ducale, Exhibition of Chinese Art, Venice, 1954, no. 569
Asia House Gallery, Chinese Gold, Silver and Porcelain: The Kempe Collection, New York, 1971, no. 124.

Note: Compare three similar qingbai cups illustrated by Jan Wirgin in Sung Ceramic Design, Stockholm, 1970: one in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, no. 28g; one in the Honolulu Academy of Arts, pl. 28h; the third in the Barlow Collection, no. 28i. Another example from the Meiyintang Collection is published by Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, vol. 1, London, 1994, no. 618.

Lot 905. From The Au Bak Ling Collection. A rare small Longquan black-bodied Guan-glazed washer, Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279); 9.8 cm diam. Price realised HKD 635,000 (Estimate HKD 500,000 – HKD 1,000,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2025
 

Provenance: Sold at Sotheby's London, 7 December 1993, lot 190.

Lot 906. From The Au Bak Ling Collection. A fine Longquan celadon ‘ribbed’ tripod censer, Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279); 12.7 cm diam. Price realised HKD 317,500 (Estimate HKD 250,000 – HKD 350,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2025
 

Provenance: Sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 16 May 1977, lot 21.

Note: A similar Longquan censer of the same form in the Idemitsu Museum of Art Collection, was illustrated in Chinese Ceramics in the Idemitsu Collection, Tokyo, 1987, no. 462.

Lot 907. From The Au Bak Ling Collection. A fine Longquan celadon ‘twin fish’ dish, Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279); 20 cm diam. Price realised HKD 635,000 (Estimate HKD 500,000 – HKD 700,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2025
 

Provenance: Sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 12 May 1976, lot 44.

Note: Dishes of this type with twin fish - symbolising marital happiness – had been made at the Longquan kilns over a long period, since the Song dynasty and continuing well into the Yuan dynasty. Song dynasty examples are often characterised by an attractive, soft bluish-green tinge as can be seen on the current dish.

For Longquan dishes of this type in various sizes, refer to the examples published by Yutaka Mino and Katherine R. Tsiang, Ice and Green Clouds: Traditions of Chinese Celadon, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, 1986, nos. 77a-g.

Lot 909. From The Au Bak Ling Collection. A rare and exceptional Cizhou black-glazed sgrafitto vase, yuhuchunping, Jin Dynasty (1127-1234); 28.5 cm high. Price realised HKD 635,000 (Estimate HKD 240,000 – HKD 550,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2025
 

The base is inscribed in ink with several partially illegible characters ending in 'li xiang', possibly denoting the name of a studio.
 

Provenance: Offered at Sotheby's London, 17 November 1999, lot 734;

Note: A number of related carved Cizhou vases are in important private and museum collections. A similar bottle vase was illustrated in Chinese Ceramics in the Idemitsu Collection, Tokyo, 1987, no. 523. Another example is in the Honolulu Academy of Arts, illustrated by J. Wirgin, Sung Ceramic Designs, Stockholm, 1970, no. 55d. A third example is in the Tokyo National Museum, published by M. Tregear, Song Ceramics, London, 1982, no. 9.