Lot 33. A Yue proto-porcelain celadon-glaze stoneware vessel, Western Zhou dynasty (c. 1046 – 771 BC); 16.2cm diam. Estimate AU$ 800 - 1,200 (€ 510 - 770). © Bonhams.

Walter Hochstadter (1914 - 2007) was a collector, dealer and scholar of Chinese art, particularly of ceramics. Pieces from his collection are found in numerous major institutions including the Freer Gallery and the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.

Mr Larry Lucas, a British-born businessman, started collecting Asian Art as a university student in the late 1960s in Cambridge. As the co-founder of the Asian Art Institute of Australia, Larry has organised various exhibitions and lectures since 2008, providing platforms for collectors, artists, researchers and scholars, and promoting knowledge and appreciation of Asian art. 

Note: Proto-porcelain was not fully understood or clearly defined until the 1950s, when large quantities were unearthed from Erligang, at Zhengzhou, Henan province. Throughout the production and firing process, wood ash was intentionally applied, resulting in the formation of lime-rich glazes. The firing temperature is around the maturing temperature for the later lime glazes, demonstrating that the potters during the later bronze age were already able to attain sufficiently high temperature in their kilns.

For a similar vessel with a lid, see Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyingtang Collection Volume Three, Part I, London, 1994, p. 110, pl. 1126.

Bonhams. Important Asian Art, 15 Nov 2018, starting at 18:00 EST, Sydney, Woollahra