TOP: Li Huayi (b.1948), Between the Cliffs. Ink, colour and gold leaf on silk. Signed: Li Huayi. Artist’s seal: Li Huayi. Dimensions: 60.0cm by 60.0cm. BOTTOM: Glazed stoneware ‘hare’s fur’ tea-bowl, Southern Song dynasty 1127 - 1279. Jian ware, from the kilns at Shuiji, Jianyang county, Fujian province. Diameter: 12.2cm. © Eskenazi

LONDON.- From 27 October to 14 November 2025, Eskenazi hold two autumn exhibitions: one presenting Chinese ceramics, metalwork and lacquer from the 12th to the 14th century, a cultural highpoint in Chinese history; and the other dedicated to eight new works by Li Huayi, widely celebrated as a leading contemporary master of Chinese ink painting.

Chinese ceramics, metalwork and lacquer from the 12th to the 14th century

This exhibition presents 12 works of art created during the golden age of the 12th to the 14th century, an intellectually vibrant period in Chinese history whose material culture is defined by elegance, restraint, and technical mastery. A highlight is a rare and striking gold drinking cup with chased decoration (shown above, left). Its form takes an unusual shape which was more widely used across the vast Mongol empire which expanded into northern China in the 13th century. It is likely that such cups were only made in small numbers and for the use of the elite. There are only a few known similar examples in gold; one closely related cup now dated to the Yuan dynasty (1271-1368) is in the Victoria and Albert Museum, and was formerly in the George Eumorfopoulos (1863-1939) collection. The present cup was formerly in the renowned collections of Mrs Christian R. Holmes (1871-1941) of Long Island, and subsequently The Honorable Hugh Scott (1900-1994), the Republican Representative and Senator from Pennsylvania.

Gold cup with chased decoration. Xixia, Jin or Yuan dynasty, 12th - 13th century. Max width: 11.4cm. Cup diameter: 9.4cm. Height: 2.9cm. © Eskenazi 

A glazed stoneware ‘hare’s fur’ tea-bowl from the Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279) (shown left) is accompanied by a Japanese Edo period (1603- 1868) lacquer cup stand. During the Northern Song period, the Jian kilns in Fujian province were celebrated for their dark-bodied tea bowls with glossy black-brown glazes, decorated with a variety of streaks and splashes, the most famous effects being known as ‘hare’s fur’ (tuhao wen), as seen on the present example, and ‘oil spot’ (youdiyou). In both cases, the striking surface effects were caused by a concentration of iron oxides which came to the surface during firing and crystallized as iron-rich minerals. Imperial patronage secured the position of Jian wares. The Emperor Huizong (r. 1100-1126) was known to favour Jian tea bowls and some wares were incised on the base with ‘for imperial use’ marks; those with hare’s fur streaks were declared to be the most desirable. The dark glazed tea bowls with hare’s fur glaze were referred to as nogime tenmoku in Japan, where they were also highly prized. Often paired with a lacquer stand (tenmoku-dai), of either Japanese or Chinese origin, they were used either ritually or in daily life, in monasteries, by tea devotees and in shogunal households. The present bowl is paired with a stand that appears to be of a negoro lacquer type, named after the Negoro temple in Kii province, Honshu Island.

Glazed stoneware ‘hare’s fur’ tea-bowl and a lacquer cup stand. Bowl: Southern Song dynasty 1127 - 1279. Jian ware, from the kilns at Shuiji, Jianyang county, Fujian province. Diameter: 12.2cm. Stand: Probably Japanese, Edo period, 1603 - 1868. Diameter: 15.8cm. Height: 9.5cm. © Eskenazi 

Further highlights include a small blue-glazed stoneware dish made in the Jun kilns, Henan province, in the Northern Song or Jin dynasty (12th-13th century). Small saucer dishes such as these could either have been used as a small serving dish or as the cover for a low, wide-mouthed tea bowl. This example was previously in the famed Guennol Collection, having been acquired from Eskenazi in 1979. From the same kilns, a blue-glazed splashed stoneware dish exemplifies the striking use of rich purple copper oxide ‘splashes’ against the characteristic blue ground seen primarily on these wares from the Jin period (1115-1234). To create these ‘splashed’ Jun wares, copper oxide was applied to the dried glaze before the vessel was fired in a reduction kiln. Although on many pieces a splashed effect appears spontaneous, it is likely that a brush was often used for the application of the copper oxide, with brush strokes evident in some cases.

Small blue-glazed stoneware dish, Northern Song or Jin dynasty, 12th-13th century, Jun kilns, Henan province. Diameter: 11.5cm © Eskenazi 

Blue-glazed splashed stoneware dish, Jin period, 12th - 13th century. Jun kilns, Henan province. Diameter: 17.7cm. © Eskenazi

A pair of bronze ‘mallow-shaped’ dishes from the Song dynasty (960-1279) would probably have been used for serving food at a banquet or as offering dishes. They were formerly in the renowned collection of Dr. Johan Carl Kempe (1884-1967), and were exhibited at the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., from 1954-1955. Created in the same ‘mallow- shaped’ form in black lacquer, another Song dish was formerly in the collection of Sir Joseph Hotung (1930-2021). This mallow flower shape is also seen in ceramics of the period, an example being a dish from the Ding kilns, now in the Percival David collection at the British Museum.

Black lacquer ‘mallow-shaped’ dish, Song dynasty, 960-1279. Diameter: 18.3cm © Eskenazi

Large glazed porcellaneous stoneware bowl with carved decoration, Northern Song dynasty, 960-1127, Ding kilns, Hebei province. Diameter: 25.8cm © Eskenazi

Glazed stoneware vase (meiping), Jin dynasty, 12th-13th century. Cizhou ware, Hebei or Henan province. Height: 35.8cm © Eskenazi

Trees and mountains on gold and silver by Li Huayi

This exhibition presents eight new works by Li Huayi (b. 1948), widely celebrated as a leading contemporary master of Chinese ink painting, long considered the highest form of Chinese art. Li executes contemporary compositions through this traditional and highly skilled technique with inspirations as disparate as the monumental landscapes of the Northern Song dynasty (960 - 1127 AD) and abstract American art of the post- war era. His compositions present a fascinating bridge between East and West, and from the storied traditions of classical Chinese painting to the urgent, searching spirit of contemporary art. His work can be found in many museum collections including the Art Institute of Chicago; Brooklyn Museum, New York; Cleveland Museum of Art; Los Angeles County Museum of Modern Art (LACMA); the British Museum, London; and the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco.

Li’s landscape paintings evoke the ethereal grandeur of Song Dynasty masters, yet they are unmistakably modern in composition and psychological presence. At once intimate and vast, his landscapes invite viewers into spaces that transcend the physical, evoking a sense of timelessness, solitude, and spiritual depth. This is the gallery’s fifth exhibition dedicated to the artist. In producing these works, Li developed and refined new gold and silver leafing techniques in collaboration with traditional Japanese craftsmen. They present a window into his ongoing dialogue with history, nature, and self, and shows that ink, in the right hands, is not a relic of the past but a living, breathing medium capable of expressing the complexity and mystery of time.

Born in Shanghai in 1948, Li Huayi was only six when he began to learn calligraphy and painting. Thanks to recognition of his talent, he lived through the Cultural Revolution of 1966-76 by becoming a ‘worker artist’, producing large propaganda paintings and designing posters in the approved socialist realist style. Li left China in 1982 to live in San Francisco where he received his master of fine art degree at the Academy of Art College. He is currently based between Beijing and San Francisco.

Li Huayi (b.1948), Golden Pond. Ink, colour and gold leaf on silk. Dimensions: 59.0cm x 63.0cm. Signed: Li Huayi. Artist’s seal: Li Huayi © Eskenazi

Li Huayi (b.1948), Secluded Valley. Ink, colour and gold leaf on silk. Dimensions: 53.5cm x 62cm. Signed: Li Huayi. Artist’s seal: Li Huayi © Eskenazi

Li Huayi (b.1948), Shadows Dancing among Pines. Ink, colour and silver leaf on silk. Dimensions: 48.0cm x 75.0cm. Signed: Li Huayi. Artist’s seal: Li Huayi © Eskenazi

Li Huayi (b.1948), Mountain Pine. Ink, colour and gold leaf on silk. Dimensions: 50.5cm x 91.5cm. Signed: Li Huayi. Artist’s seal: Li Huayi © Eskenazi