Lot 934. Property from the Muwen Tang Collection. A superb Jun purple-splashed blue-glazed tripod censer, Northern Song dynasty (960-1127); 10.6 cm diam. Price realised HKD 508,000 (Estimate HKD 500,000 – HKD 800,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

Provenance: Sold at Sotheby's New York, 19 September 2002, lot 79
Sold at Sotheby's New York, Harmony of Form, Serenity of Color: A Private European Collection of Song Ceramics, 23 March 2011, lot 544

Literature: The Muwen Tang Collection Series, vol. 11, Song Ceramics, Hong Kong, 2012, no. 28

Note: During the Song dynasty, the practice of incense burning transformed from a functional level to a spiritual pursuit for scholars, which spurred the production of censers of great refinement. The present Jun censer stands as one of the finest examples.

Compare with similar examples: a smaller one covered with a moon-white glaze in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Jun Ware, Beijing, 2016, pp.74-75, pl.29; another in the Palace Museum Collection, Beijing, included in Zhongguo Taoci Quanji, vol.12, Junyao, Kyoto, 1983, pl.18; and another illustrated in John Ayers, The Baur Collection Geneva. Chinese Ceramics, Geneva, 1968, vol. 1, pl. A 37.

Lot 935. Property from the Muwen Tang Collection. A rare Jun green-glazed bowl, Northern Song-Jin dynasty (960-1234); 11.3 cm diam. Price realised HKD 889,000 (Estimate HKD 200,000 – HKD 400,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

Provenance: Collection of Dr. and Mrs. Yip, Hong Kong, acquired before 2008

Literature: The Muwen Tang Collection Series, vol. 11, Song Ceramics, Hong Kong, 2012, no.43

Exhibited: University of Hong Kong, University Museum and Art Gallery, Alchemy in Blue: Ancient Jun ware from the Yip Collection, Hong Kong, 5 July to 30 November 2008, cat. no. 18

Note: The bowl with rounded sides is covered overall with a glaze of deep sea-green colour thinning to mushroom to the rim.

Compare a Jun piece of very similar shape, but covered with a blue glaze, housed in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Zhongguo Taoci Quanji, Vol.12, Junyao, Kyoto, 1983, pl. 59. Compare also another Jin dynasty Jun green-glazed bowl formerly in the collection of Dr. Carl Kempe, later sold at Sotheby’s London, 5 November 2008, lot 550, and again at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 29 April 2022, lot 3699.

Lot 936. Property from the Muwen Tang Collection. A Jun sky-blue glazed bowl, Jin dynasty (1115-1234). 14.8 cm diam. Price realised HKD 304,800 (Estimate HKD 300,000 – HKD 500,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

Literature: The Muwen Tang Collection Series, vol. 11, Song Ceramics, Hong Kong, 2012, no. 38

Exhibited: Hong Kong Museum of Art, Song Ceramics from the Kwan Collection, 22 July - 11 September 1994, cat. no. 38

Note: The bowl is potted with rounded sides rising from a straight foot to an incurved rim, covered overall with a sky-blue glaze. The glaze drains to a pale mushroom tone at the mouth rim. Compare to a larger Jin dynasty Jun bowl in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Jun Ware, Beijing, 2016, pp.84-85, no.34.

Lot 938. Property from the Muwen Tang Collection. A fine small Longquan celadon 'mask' tripod censer, Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279); 8 cm diam. Price realised HKD 444,500 (Estimate HKD 200,000 – HKD 400,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

Literature: The Muwen Tang Collection Series, vol. 11, Song Ceramics, Hong Kong, 2012, no. 52

Note: The present censer is very rare for its small size, making it ideal for scholars to place beside a qin for leisurely appreciation.

The censer has additional moulded taotie masks on the feet, which is rarely found on Longquan wares of this period. For a Southern Song Longquan tripod censer of similar form and decoration but of larger size, see an example sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, Chinese Ceramics from the Yangdetang Collection, 30 November 2016, lot 3132. Compare to another Longquan censer of the same form but without mask decorations, housed in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Songci Tezhan Mulu, Taipei, 1978, no.13.

Lot 939. Property from the Muwen Tang Collection. A rare Yaozhou moon-white glazed shallow bowl, Jin dynasty (1115-1234); 19.2 cm diam. Price realised HKD 635,000 (Estimate HKD 150,000 – HKD 300,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

Provenance: Sold at Sotheby's New York, 3 June 1992, lot 189

Literature: The Muwen Tang Collection Series, vol. 11, Song Ceramics, Hong Kong, 2012, no. 148

Exhibited: Hong Kong Museum of Art, Song Ceramics from the Kwan Collection, 22 July - 11 September 1994, cat. no. 91

Note: The bowl is well potted with rounded sides resting on a short foot, covered overall with a clear, soft moon-white glaze. Compare to a Yaozhou moon-white glazed yuhuchun vase sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 2 May 2025, lot 953, with a lustrous glaze very similar to that of the current bowl. Compare also a Jin dynasty Yaozhou moon-white glazed washer excavated from Shaanxi province, preserved in the Yaozhou Kiln Museum and illustrated in Yaozhou Kiln of China, Beijing, 2014, no. 179; and a Song dynasty example of comparable form preserved in the same museum, illustrated in Zhongguo Taoci Quanji, Vol.10, Yaozhouyao, Kyoto, 1985, no.39.

Lot 940. Property from the Muwen Tang Collection. A fine carved Qingbai ‘boys’ bowl, Northern Song dynasty (960-1127); 20.3 cm diam. Price realised HKD 101,600 (Estimate HKD 100,000 – HKD 200,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

Literature: The Muwen Tang Collection Series, vol. 11, Song Ceramics, Hong Kong, 2012, no. 92

Exhibited: Hong Kong Museum of Art, Song Ceramics from the Kwan Collection, 22 July - 11 September 1994, cat. no. 101

Lot 941. Property from the Muwen Tang Collection. A fine and very rare Yaozhou carved celadon-glazed 'Apsaras' bowl, Northern Song-Jin dynasty (960-1234); 16.4 cm diam. Price realised HKD 1,143,000 (Estimate HKD 500,000 – HKD 800,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

Provenance: Offered at Sotheby's London, Song Ceramics from the Muwen Tang Collection, 12 November 2003, lot 39

Literature: The Muwen Tang Collection Series, vol. 11, Song Ceramics, Hong Kong, 2012, no. 135

Exhibited: Hong Kong Museum of Art, Song Ceramics from the Kwan Collection, 22 July - 11 September 1994, cat. no. 75

Note: The bowl is potted with flaring sides, the interior carved with two apsaras surrounded by stylised scrolling clouds, covered overall with an olive-green glaze. The motif of apsaras is typically found on Tang dynasty gold and silver vessels as well as jade carvings. Its appearance on ceramics especially on Yaozhou wares are very rare, reasonably so due to the difficulty of carving such complicated patterns on the ceramic body. Compare to a similarly decorated Yaozhou bowl from the Gordon Collection, exhibited by J. J. Lally in The Gordon Collection: Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 12 March – 4 April 2009, cat. no. 16.

Lot 943. Property from the Muwen Tang Collection. A carved Denfeng white-glazed sgraffito meiping, Northern Song-Jin dynasty (960-1234); 33.5 cm high. Price realised HKD 1,206,500 (Estimate HKD 600,000 – HKD 800,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

The base is carved with a character zhuo.

Provenance: Collection of Walter Hochstadter (1914-2007)

Sold at Christie's New York, Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art Including Jades from the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, 19 March 2009, lot 511

J. J. Lally, no. 4517

Literature: The Muwen Tang Collection Series, vol. 11, Song Ceramics, Hong Kong, 2012, no. 164

Note: Of olive form, the meiping is incised through a white slip with bands of peony and foliate scroll within narrow decorative bands, all against a dense ring-punched ground of ‘pearls’.

Compare to several Dengfeng meiping of comparable sizes, decorated in the same sgraffito technique with foliate patterns, dated to the Song dynasty, 11th-12th century: one carved with two fierce tigers to the body, preserved in the Palace Museum, Beijing, collection number: xin 00142903; one carved with peonies, housed in the Shanghai Museum; and one excavated in Henan province in 1955, decorated with narrow bands as the current lot, now preserved in the Henan Museum.

The result of Oxford Authentication thermoluminescence test no. P108x95 is consistent with the dating of this lot.

Lot 944. Property from the Muwen Tang Collection. A fine Jizhou 'tortoise shell'-glazed tea bowl, Northern Song dynasty (1127-1279); 15.7 cm diam. Price realised HKD 241,300 (Estimate HKD 150,000 – HKD 300,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

Literature: The Muwen Tang Collection Series, vol. 11, Song Ceramics, Hong Kong, 2012, no. 219

Note : The bowl has flared sides and is covered with a dark brown glaze splashed in amber tones reminiscent of tortoise shell, stopping just about the foot. Compare to a very similar example exhibited in the University of Hong Kong, The Multiplicity of Simplicity – Monochrome wares from the Song to the Yuan dynasties, 2012, no.105, later sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, The Songde Tang Collection, 3 December 2021, lot 2835.

Lot 945. Property from the Muwen Tang Collection. A superb russet-glazed black-splahed bowl, Jin dynasty (1115-1234); 19.6 cm diam. Price realised HKD 241,300 (Estimate HKD 240,000 – HKD 300,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

Literature: The Muwen Tang Collection Series, vol. 11, Song Ceramics, Hong Kong, 2012, no. 175

:Note The finely potted bowl with rounded sides is covered to the interior with a lustrous russet and black glaze decorated with bold splashes. Compare a black-glazed tea bowl decorated with russet splashes, housed in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, collection number: guci 016992; and a conical bowl with similar splashes, excavated from the Dangyangyu kiln site in Henan province, illustrated in Dangyangyu Kiln of China, Beijing, 2011, no.55.

Lot 946. Property from the Muwen Tang Collection. A rare Danyangyu marble-glazed vase, yuhuchunping, Jin dynasty (1115-1234); 18.3 cm high. Price realised HKD 508,000 (Estimate HKD 600,000 – HKD 800,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

Literature: The Muwen Tang Collection Series, vol. 11, Song Ceramics, Hong Kong, 2012, no. 180

Note : The pear-shaped vase is covered with a dramatic combination of dark-brown, creamy-white, and caramel glazes to imitate natural patterns on marble stone.

A similar Jin dynasty marble-glazed yuhuchunping excavated in Changzhi, Shanxi province, featuring the same glaze combination as the present one, is illustrated in Zhongguo Chutu Ciqi Quanji, vol.5, Shanxi, Beijing, 2008, no.153. Compare also a similar vase excavated in Shuozhou, Shanxi, now preserved in the Shanxi Museum.

Lot 950. Property from the Muwen Tang Collection. A rare Ding moulded white-glazed ‘Mandarin ducks and twin fish in lotus pond’ bowl, Jin dynasty (1115-1234); 16.6 cm diam. Price realised HKD 304,800 (Estimate HKD 300,000 – HKD 500,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

Provenance: Offered at Sotheby's London, Song Ceramics from the Muwen Tang Collection, 12 November 2003, lot 23

Literature: The Muwen Tang Collection Series, vol. 11, Song Ceramics, Hong Kong, 2012, no. 24

Exhibited: Hong Kong Museum of Art, Song Ceramics from the Kwan Collection, 22 July - 11 September 1994, cat. no. 30

Note: The bowl is delicately moulded to the interior with mandarin ducks swimming in a pond amidst lotus and weeds, encircling a pair of fish at the centre. The bowl is covered overall in a warm ivory glaze.

‘Mandarin ducks in a lotus pond’ is a prevalent motif on ceramics, textiles and paintings since the Northern Song dynasty. One such example is the ink painting Pair of Mandarin Ducks in a Lotus Pond, attributed to Huichong, now preserved in the National Palace Museum, Taipei.

Compare to a Ding bowl moulded with identical decoration, preserved in the Nanjing Museum and illustrated in Zhongguo Taoci Quanji, Vol. 9, Dingyao, no.88. Another example moulded with mandarin ducks was formerly in the collection of E. T. Chow, later passing to T. Y. Chow, and sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 21 March 2023, lot 16. Compare also to a Jin dynasty ‘mandarin ducks in lotus pond’ dish in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Selection of Ding Ware: the Palace Museum’s Collection and Archaeological Excavation, Beijing, 2012, no. 119.

Lot 951. Property from the Muwen Tang Collection. A Ding white-glazed foliate-rim ‘Lotus pod’ dish, Five Dynasties-Early Northern Song dynasty, 10th century; 14.2 cm diam. Price realised HKD 330,200 (Estimate HKD 200,000 – HKD 400,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

Literature: The Muwen Tang Collection Series, vol. 11, Song Ceramics, Hong Kong, 2012, no. 5

Note: The dish is elegantly potted with fluted walls rising from the flat base to six petal lobes, decorated to the centre with a lotus pod with seeds, covered overall with a thin lustrous glaze of pale ivory tone.

Compare to a Northern Song dynasty white-glazed barbed-rim dish excavated in Changsha, Hunan Province, now preserved in the Hunan Museum, illustrated in Complete Collection of Ceramic Art Unearthed in China, Vol. 13, Hubei Hunan, Beijing, 2008, no.211. Compare also a pair of similar white-glazed moulded 'lotus pod' dishes from Dorothy Goldman, sold at Christie's New York, 22 March 2024, lot 808.

Christie's. PEARLS OF THE ORIENT - TREASURES FROM HONG KONG PRIVATE COLLECTORS, Hong Kong, 30 April 2026