Lot 2002. A rare amber-glazed figure of a dog, Tang dynasty; h. 25.4 cm, double Japanese wood box. Lot Sold 5,248,000 HKD (Estimate 150,000 - 300,000 HKD) © Sotheby's 2026

Provenance: Collection of Marquis Hosokawa Moritatsu (1883–1970), Tokyo, by 1928.

Kochukyo Co., Ltd, Tokyo.

Uragami Sokyu-do Co., Ltd, Tokyo.

Exhibited : Tokubetsu Ten Chugoku no Toji / Special Exhibition: Chinese Ceramics, Tokyo National Museum, Tokyo, 1994, cat. no. 123.

Special Triennial Tobi Art Fair, Tokyo Bijutsu Club, Tokyo, 2001, pp. 55–56.

Literature : Nakao Manzo, Tosansai zufu [Illustrated Catalogue of Tang Sancai Ware], Tokyo, 1928, p. 44.

Geijutsu Shincho, vol. 1, issue 12, December 1950, p. 141.

The 30th Anniversary of Uragami Sokyu-do, Uragami Sokyu-do Co., Ltd, Tokyo, 2009, p. 134.

Uragami Mitsuru, Kobijutsusho ni manabu Chugoku Chosentoji no Mikata Erabikata [A Dealer's Eyes: Appreciating and Collecting Chinese and Korean Ceramics], Kyoto, 2011, p. 42.

Note: Dogs have accompanied humans for millennia, and in China their importance is evident in burial practices as early as the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BC), when they were interred alongside the dead. This close association continued into later periods, and by the Tang dynasty (618–907) was expressed through ceramic tomb figures, with animals forming a lively part of the funerary assemblage. Yet within these groups, horses and camels predominate, reflecting the cosmopolitan culture of the Silk Road, while representations of dogs remain comparatively rare among surviving examples.

The type of dog represented here is generally associated with Central Asian sighthounds, particularly the Saluki: slender, long-limbed hunting dogs prized for their speed and keen sight, and still survive in parts of the region today. They bear a visual resemblance to greyhounds, but can be distinguished by their long, pendulous ears, in contrast to the shorter, pricked ears of the latter. Dogs of this type also appear in Tang paintings, including works such as Admonitions in Chains, traditionally attributed to Yan Liben (c. 600–674), now in the Freer Gallery of Art (acc. no. F1911.235).

Very few comparable examples have survived, and most are now held in major museum collections. See an amber-glazed figure in the Tokyo National Museum (acc. no. TG-1919) and a similarly sized white-and-green-glazed example in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (acc. no. 29.18). Both appear more rigid and frontal in conception. By contrast, the present figure displays a greater sense of movement and animation, placing it among the more accomplished surviving works of its kind.

Lot 2004. A sancai bottle vase, Tang dynasty; 21.5 cm, Japanese wood box. Lot Sold 384,000 HKD (Estimate 400,000 - 800,000 HKD) © Sotheby's 2026

Note: See a similar vase from the collection of Japanese Nobel laureate Yasunari Kawabata, later entered in the collection of Mr Hikonobu Ise, and subsequently sold in these rooms, 9th September 2025, lot 5117.

Lot 2010. A small sancai tripod dish, Tang dynasty; 19.3 cm, Japanese wood box. Lot Sold 640,000 HKD (Estimate 200,000 - 400,000 HKD) © Sotheby's 2026

Provenance: Collection of the Matsushita family.

Kochukyo Co., Ltd, Tokyo.

Literature: Seiichi Mizuno, Toki Zenshu [The Complete Works of Ceramics], vol. 25: Tosansai [Tang sancai], Tokyo, 1961, pl. 27.

Lot 2011. A finely carved Yaozhou celadon 'peony' ewer, Five Dynasties – Northern Song dynasty; h. 19.5 cm, Japanese wood box. Lot Sold 8,320,000 HKD (Estimate 300,000 - 600,000 HKD) © Sotheby's 2026

Provenance: Uragami Sokyu-do Co., Ltd, Tokyo.

Exhibited: The International Asian Art Fair, New York, 2002.

Literature: The 30th Anniversary of Uragami Sokyu-do, Uragami Sokyu-do Co., Ltd, Tokyo, 2009, p. 113.

Uragami Mitsuru, Kobijutsusho ni manabu Chugoku Chosentoji no Mikata Erabikata [A Dealer's Eyes: Appreciating and Collecting Chinese and Korean Ceramics], Kyoto, 2011, p. 91.

Note : Likely made during the early development of the Yaozhou celadon production, this exceptional ewer, remarkably potted and carved, belongs to a rare group of northern celadons inspired by Tang dynasty metalwork. 

The Yaozhou kilns at Huangpu, southwest of Tongchuan city in Shaanxi province, which had gained renown through their pale green vessels with deep, large-scale carving in the Five Dynasties period (907-960), became China’s major suppliers of high-quality celadon wares in the Northern Song dynasty (960-1127). While production of bowls and dishes with incised or moulded designs was executed on a vast scale, a small number of vessels in other shapes, such as the current ewer, received particular attention

A closely related covered ewer, excavated in 1972 from the Huangbaozhen kiln site in Tongchuan County, Shaanxi province, and now preserved in the Yaozhou Ware Museum, was included in The Masterpieces of Yaozhou Ware, Osaka, 1997, cat. no. 142. Two further comparable ewers, both lacking their original covers, are illustrated in Kanzo Meihin Sen / Selected Masterpieces from the Idemitsu Collection, vol. 3, Tokyo, 1996, pl. 102, and Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, vol. III (II), London, 2006, no. 1472.

For other related Yaozhou celadon ewers, compare a double-spouted example from the Charles Bain Hoyt Collection, now preserved in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, accession no. 50.2009, another with a double spout in the form of two phoenix from the Ernest Grandidier Collection and now housed in the Musée Guimet, Paris, accession no. G 5119, and another with a singular lion-shaped spout in the Cleveland Museum of Art, accession no. 1948.220.

Lot 2015. A rare Cizhou sgraffiato 'peony' jar, Northern Song dynasty; h. 21.2 cm, Japanese wood box. Lot Sold 2,688,000 HKD (Estimate 600,000 - 1,200,000 HKD) © Sotheby's 2026

Provenance: Kochukyo Co., Ltd, Tokyo.

Exhibited: To So Meito Ten [Masterpieces of Tang and Song Ceramics], Ceramic Society of Japan, Nihonbashi Shirakiya, Tokyo, 1964, cat. no. 184.

Chugoku Bijutsu-Ten Series. So Gen no Bijutsu [Chinese Art Exhibition Series: The Art of Song and Yuan Dynasties], vol. 4, Osaka Municipal Art Museum, Osaka, 1978, cat. no. 1–142.

Toyo toji meihin ten / Masterworks of Eastern Ceramics, Aichi Prefectural Ceramic Museum, Seto, 1994, cat. no. 40.

Song Ceramics, Tobu Museum of Art, Tokyo, and Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka, 1999, cat. no. 93.

5th Anniversary Exhibition. All-Stars of the Okada Collection: Masterworks of Korin, Jakuchu, Hokusai and the Ru Ware Kilns, Okada Museum of Art, Hakone, 2018–19, exh. no. 45 (unillustrated).

Literature: Nihon Bijutsu Kogei / A Monthly Journal Devoted to the Study of Works on Far Eastern Art, vol. 304, January 1964 (Kochukyo Co., Ltd advertisement).

Gakuji Hasebe, Ceramic Art of the World, vol. 12: Song dynasty, Tokyo, 1977, pl. 232.

Osaka Municipal Art Museum, ed., So Gen no Bijutsu [The Art of Song and Yuan Dynasties], Osaka, 1980, pl. 162.

Gakuji Hasebe, Chugoku no toji [Chinese Ceramics], vol. 7: Cizhou ware, Tokyo, 1996, pl. 54.

Kobayashi Tadashi, ed., Masterpieces of the Okada Museum of Art, vol. 1, Tokyo, 2013, no. 8.

Note: This striking jar is impressive for its bold and vigorous floral scroll, which has been endowed with an added sense of three-dimensionality through its deep carving and delicate incised lines. Vessels decorated in this distinctive sgraffiato technique, where the design is carved through a dark brown or black slip to reveal the contrasting white slip beneath, were produced primarily at the Cizhou kilns in the Guantai area, Cixian, Hebei province, during the Northern Song dynasty. Fragments of similarly decorated vessels have been recovered from this site, as illustrated in The Cizhou Kiln Site at Guantai, Beijing, 1997, col. pl. 21, no. 2.

Jars decorated with similar peony motifs are more commonly known in larger sizes, such as one included in the exhibition Song Ceramics, Tobu Museum of Art, Tokyo, 1999, cat. no. 93. The dynamic peony scroll is also closely related to those found on meiping vases of the period, such as an example from the collection of Margaret C. Osgood, now in the Worcester Art Museum, included in the exhibition Freedom of Clay and Brush through Seven Centuries in Northern China. Tz’u-chou Type Wares, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, 1980, cat. no. 39. The same exhibition catalogue illustrates four other meiping of this type: in the Kyoto National Museum, Kyoto, fig. 97; in the Museum Yamato Bunkakan, Nara, fig. 98; in the collection of the former royal house of Yi, Seoul, fig. 99; and in the British Museum, London, fig. 100.

Lot 2021. A Cizhou white-glazed vase, meiping, Northern Song dynasty; 28 cm, Japanese wood box. Lot Sold 742,400 HKD (Estimate 400,000 - 800,000 HKD) © Sotheby's 2026

Provenance: Kochukyo Co., Ltd, Tokyo.

Note : Showcasing uninterrupted glaze coverage and a superbly balanced silhouette, the present vase exemplifies the refined artistry of the Cizhou potting tradition, distinguishing itself from earlier wares of the northern folk kilns through its heightened sophistication of form and finish.

Compare a similar but slightly larger (32.2 cm) Cizhou white-glazed meiping, from the collection of Hikonobu Ise, sold in these rooms, 9th September 2025, lot 5016. See also a smaller (25.5 cm) Northern Song-Jin dynasty Cizhou-type white-glazed meiping, potted with a splayed foot over which the glaze does not cover, preserved in the Institute for Preservation of Cultural Relics of Handan, illustrated in Complete Collection of Ceramics Unearthed in China, Beijing, vol. 3, 2008, no. 171. Another vase with a fuller, more rounded body, attributed to the Northern Song dynasty, from the Hirota Matsushige Collection, is now in the Tokyo National Museum, acc. no. TG-2457.

Lot 2025. A large carved Dingyao 'peony' lobed bowl, Northern Song dynasty; 24.5 cm, Japanese double wood box. Lot Sold 5,376,000 HKD (Estimate 400,000 - 800,000 HKD) © Sotheby's 

Provenance : Kochukyo Co., Ltd, Tokyo.

Exhibited : 5th Anniversary Exhibition. All-Stars of the Okada Collection: Masterworks of Korin, Jakuchu, Hokusai and the Ru Ware Kilns, Okada Museum of Art, Hakone, 2018–19, exh. no. 42 (unillustrated).

Literature : Kobayashi Tadashi, ed., Masterpieces of the Okada Museum of Art, vol. 1, Tokyo, 2013, no. 11.

Lot 2026. A Jizhou 'papercut' 'phoenix' tenmoku bowl, Southern Song dynasty; bowl 15 cm; bowl stand 17.5 cm. Lot Sold 10,624,000 HKD (Estimate 400,000 - 800,000 HKD)

accompanied by a black lacquer chrysanthemum-form bowl stand, and nested Japanese wood boxes: the bowl’s box with an inscription attributed to Matsudaira Harusato (松平治鄉, 號不昧, 1751–1818), the lacquer stand’s box to Kobori Hōro (小堀蓬露, d. 1876), together with letters including one by Hattori Shichibei (服部七兵衛, 號集翠, b. 1894)

Provenance : Gifted by Tokugawa Tsunayoshi (徳川綱吉, 1646–1709) to Tokugawa Mitsusada (徳川光貞, 1627–1705), according to the box inscription.

Collection of Hirase Roko (平瀨露香, 1839–1908), Osaka, and passed down through the Hirase family.

Daisansai Hirase-ka Zōki Balikodai-tsuke [The Third Hirase Family Collection Auction Catalogue with Prices], 1906, sold to Harumi, likely Tojiro Harumi (春海藤次郎, 1840–1910), for 4,600 gold yen.

Collection of Eishun Nakamura (中村榮俊, 1908–1978), by 1968.

Kochukyo Co., Ltd, Tokyo.

Literature : Ryoji Kuroda, Kokon no meiwan [Selection of Master Teabowls], Tokyo, 1968, no. 2.

Kobayashi Tadashi, ed., Masterpieces of the Okada Museum of Art, vol. 1, Tokyo, 2013, no. 14.

Lot 2020. A Junyao purple and blue-glazed cup, Jin dynasty; 8.4 cm, Japanese wood box. Lot Sold 1,126,400 HKD (Estimate 400,000 - 800,000 HKD) © Sotheby's 2026

Provenance: Mayuyama & Co., Ltd, Tokyo.

Note : Exquisitely potted, the present cup is distinguished by the striking contrast between its vivid purple exterior and the luminous sky-blue glaze on the interior. This combination of colours is a hallmark of the finest Junyao ceramics. The function of this vessel as a tea bowl is indicated by the subtle indented groove just below the rim on the exterior. This distinctive feature originated at the Jian kilns in Fujian province during the Song dynasty and was subsequently widely adopted by kilns throughout both northern and southern China.

For a closely related example, compare a very similar rare Jun-type purple-glazed tea bowl of comparable size (8.3 cm) from the collection of Hidenari Terasaki (1900-1951), sold at Bonhams New York, 19 March 2018, lot 8029. While tea bowls of this precise form are exceptionally rare among recent Jun kiln excavations, the striking reddish-purple and sky-blue glaze combination can be compared to a dish discovered during the 2004 excavations at the Juntai kiln site in Henan province. That dish was included in the Palace Museum exhibition catalogue Jun ci ya ji: Gugong Bowuyuan zhencang ji chutu Junyao ciqi huicui [Selection of Jun Ware: The Palace Museum's Collection and Archaeological Excavation], Beijing, 2013, pp. 264-265, cat. no. 117; and was previously published in Zhongguo chutu ciqi quanji [Complete Collection of Ceramic Art Unearthed in China], vol. 12: Henan, Beijing, 2008, cat. no. 211. See also another related Jun-type purple-glazed tea bowl of slightly different form, sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 26 November 2014, lot 2925.

Lot 2018. An heirloom Longquan celadon 'peony' handled vase, Ming dynasty; 28.7 cm, Japanese double wood box. Lot Sold 243,200 HKD (Estimate 500,000 - 1,000,000 HKD) © Sotheby's 2026

Note : Exquisitely potted with an elegant pear-shaped body rising to a flared neck, the present vase is distinguished by its finely carved peony scrolls and the imposing animal-head handles suspending rings. The rich, lustrous sea-green glaze further accentuates the depth of the carving, exemplifying the high quality of Longquan celadon wares produced during the early Ming dynasty.

While the present vase is notable for its carved floral motifs and animal-mask handles, vases of a related pear-shaped form can be found in important museum collections. For related examples, though undecorated and featuring flattened ribbed handles, compare two vases dated to the 13th/14th century in the Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul, illustrated in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics in the Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul, London, 1986, pp. 220-221, nos. 200 and 201. Another related example in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, is illustrated in Oriental Ceramics, The World's Great Collections, vol. 12, fig. 63.

For related examples sold at auction, see a Yuan/Ming dynasty 14th-century Longquan celadon vase sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 30 May 2012, lot 4248. Two further related vases were also sold in the same rooms, 1 June 2011, lot 3812, and 30 November 2011, lot 3008.

Sotheby's. Masterpieces of Asian Art from the Okada Museum of Art II, Hong Kong, 4 September 2026