Mineo Hata, circa 2020, in his home in Kobe, Japan, which has been fitted with the dining room of the Honkon-maru, a transpacific steamship.

Hata Mineo is an antiques dealer whose actions greatly impacted the Asian art market. He wields a powerful paddle at major auctions, acquiring many significant works of art. News of his acquisitions swiftly follows, spreading rapidly throughout Japan.

Mineo was born to a family of soy sauce brewers in 1949 near Shimane Prefecture’s Izumo Grand Shrine, a place rich in legend and heralded as the gathering place of ancient gods by Japan’s oldest texts, such as Kojiki (c. 712 CE) and Nihon shoki (c. 720 CE). Growing up surrounded by this landscape and its palpable divinity, he developed a distinct aesthetic sensitivity. As with most families in the soy sauce business, his family was financially comfortable, and his grandfather also served as the chair of the village council.

Mineo entered adulthood along with the rest of the first postwar generation at a time when Japan’s economy was rapidly changing. In 1967 he moved to Tokyo from Shimane riding the wave of the “group employment” phenomenon, the mass hiring of high school graduates from around the country by companies in the capital to fuel rapidly growing sectors. Once there, he began working for a company dealing in medical devices by visiting doctors’ offices door-to-door, but decided that this should not be his life’s work. 

Around this time, Mineo’s interests began to shift toward antiquities. He began to frequent antique shops as he continued his company work, purchasing pieces that piqued his interest. Taking inspiration from the written work of Mingei folk-craft movement founder Yanagi Sōetsu, Mineo left his salaried job in 1976.

By this time, Mineo had a family to support, and there were concerns about the viability of his career path. However, Japan was in the middle of an economic boom, and he thought that things would work themselves out. Nevertheless, his early forays into art dealing proved challenging, and Mineo found himself appraising curiosities like tortoise shells rather than fine art. When his second son was born, Mineo could not initially pay the hospital bill, but managed to gather the funds through the well-timed sale of an early Imari porcelain.

Entering the art world meant leaving the salaried world behind. Had Mineo chosen to first work for an established dealer, he would have gained status in the field, making the transition to running his own business much easier. The financial responsibility of raising a family, however, made that course impossible, no matter how attractive that may have seemed. Determined to succeed, Mineo continued on his chosen path with unmatched resolve. According to his wife, he would spend dawn to dusk with artworks, often spending the whole night examining the piece at hand.

Despite the hardships, entering the art market with a clean slate was in some ways a blessing. Mineo remained unfettered by academic opinion and industry norms. This meant he was able to acquire works while staying true to his own sense of beauty, quietly devoting himself to the trade. 

In working with art, Mineo looked to the art critic and philosopher Yanagi Sōetsu as an intellectual model. Sōetsu’s philosophy stated that true beauty originated in natural resources untouched by human hands and came to dwell in artwork through a craftsman’s purity of intention. This aesthetically minimalist ideology came to be reflected in Sōetsu’s approach to appraising works. In Sōetsu’s words, looking with one’s own eyes was the most important part of studying a work. Nothing external was needed to prove a work’s aesthetic value. The true beauty inherent in a work of quality relied not on a viewer’s academic understanding or background knowledge, but was instead self-evident, ascertainable simply through observation.

Japanese culture has long revered those with an all-consuming passion for art and other refined pastimes. Historically, they have been called sukisha, a term referring to their involvement with the aesthetic world. The first portion of the word, “suki,” carries the same pronunciation as the everyday Japanese word meaning “to like” or “enjoy.” Of course, in assessing an art object, objective qualities like age, use, and craftsmanship take precedent over the subjective fundamentals of “like” and “dislike.” However, sometimes an object selected by preference alone wins over increasingly large groups of people, resulting in new commonly held aesthetic standards. Some of Japan’s most important cultural transformations took root in this manner. For example, early masters of Japanese tea ceremony—some of the original sukisha—found the ceramics of the Korean Joseon kingdom to be of sublime beauty, leading to the ubiquity of their appreciation for centuries to follow.

“To know, look; do not know before looking.”

Even after becoming an art dealer, Mineo maintained the sukisha habits he had developed as a collector, remaining captivated with the works that passed through his hands. He approached them with the strategies he had learned from Sōetsu, putting his intuition first and resisting the trends of the prevailing market, continuing to single-mindedly pursue the acquisition of high-quality objects. In 1984, he opened his first storefront as Hata Kobijutsu on Osaka’s Nishitenma Oimatsu-dōri, where established major dealers, such as Hirano Kotōken, had their shops. In 1990, he was granted membership into what is perhaps western Japan’s most elite group of dealers, the Osaka Art Club, and in 1992 he opened a second store in Ashiya near his home in Kobe.

Kobe, where Mineo lived, has prospered for millennia through exchange with the Korean Peninsula and China. It remained a core economic city during the pre-war period, continuing to function as a maritime gateway to the Asian market, and flourished as a center for the shipping industry and chemical manufacturing. At the time of the First World War, its port was rapidly expanding, handling as much as a half of Japan’s imports and a third of its exports. 

In the 20th century, many high quality examples of Chinese art passed through Kobe. Then and now, mansions of influential families line the base of the Rokko Mountains from Sumiyoshi to Ashiya and Nishinomiya, as well as prominent institutions such as the Hakutsuru and Kosetsu Museums, whose Asian Art collections are well known. In 1935 when the Honkon-maru, a most beloved transpacific steamship from the Meiji period, was scrapped, one collector native to the area purchased the first-class dining room of the ship and installed it as a parlor in his home. Sadly, however, during the Great Hanshin earthquake in 1995, the room was damaged and needed to be disassembled. Mineo hated the idea that Kobe might lose some of its most distinctive architecture, and decided to restore and install the space as a replacement for his own earthquake-damaged living room (see illustration on page 10).

By the mid-nineties, between opening his own brick-and-mortar stores and gaining admission to the Osaka Art Club, Mineo’s business had grown steadily. He maintained relationships with both museums and individual collectors and began to participate in international auctions. In March 2008, he consigned to Christie’s New York a Chinese Longquan celadon kinuta mallet-shaped vase with dragon-fish handles from the legendary collection of Lord Matsudaira Fumai (1751-1818). (Fig. 1) The vase achieved a strong price and was one of his first large-scale successes on the global auction stage. After that, his participation in the international market rose, auctioning a variety of his carefully acquired high-caliber Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and other Asian works of art, pieces he had selected for their inherent beauty and quality.

Fig. 1  An Important Longquan Celadon ‘Kinuta’ Vase, Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279), sold at Christie’s New York, 19 March 2008, lot 561.

A number of these works have been acquired by renowned collectors and museums. One such object sold at Christie’s in 2009, a suit of two-plate samurai armor stitched with red- and blue-dyed fiber and accompanied by a mantis-shaped helmet, is currently in the collection of the Minneapolis Institute of Art. (Fig. 2) This 17th century set of armor is nearly complete, having been passed down through the shogunal Tokugawa clan’s core Kii lineage.

Fig. 2 Red-and-blue-laced Suit of Armor from the Kii Tokugawa Family, mid-17th century. The Minneapolis Institute of Art, The Ethel Morrison Van Derlip Fund, 2009.60A-S. Sold at Christie’s New York, 23 October 2009, lot 80.

Fate would have it that in the current sale, the top lot would also be a Longquan celadon kinuta mallet-shaped vase with dragon-fish handles, also of the exquisite blue-green hue so highly prized by collectors. This remarkable vase certainly ranks amongst the finest Longquan kinuta celadons. Every object in this sale is of a high caliber that possesses the beauty and quality that Hata Mineo spent his life learning to recognize.

Hata Mineo’s journey to prominence as an antiques dealer drew upon many sources, from the philosophy of Yanagi Sōetsu to the divine beauty of his native Izumo. Given his remarkable background, surely there has been no greater joy in his career than that of engaging with exquisite objects as demonstrated in this sale.

Lot 857. A very rare Yue celadon double 'chicken-head' ewer, Southern Dynasties, 5th century; 26 cm high, Japanese wood box. Estimate USD 18,000 – USD 25,000. © Christie's Image Ltd 2023

The shoulder of the ewer is set with twin spouts in the form of chickens' heads opposite a double-strap handle joined on top in a dragon's head that bites the rim of the dish-shaped mouth. The shoulder is further set with two angular lug handles and the ewer is covered overall with a greenish-olive glaze.

Provenance : In Japan prior to 1950.
Mineo Hata Collection, Kobe, Japan.

Exhibited: Tokyo, The Japan Ceramics Society, Chugoku seiji ten (Exhibition of Celadon), 13-14 October 1950, no. 8.

Note: A very similar celadon-glazed ewer, but with a spout in the form of a single chicken-head, was unearthed at Huangyan, Zhejiang province and is illustrated in the exhibition catalogue, China in Venice, Milan, 1986, p. 123, no. 21. Another Yue celadon example, which has a double chicken-head spout, but is covered in a black glaze, is illustrated by R. Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, vol. 2, London, 1994, pp. 94-5, no. 151.

Lot 858. A rare white stoneware bowl, Five Dynasties period-Liao Dynasty (AD 907-1125); 15.2 cm diam., Japanese wood box. Estimate USD 25,000 – USD 35,000. © Christie's Image Ltd 2023

The bowl is potted with deep, rounded sides and the creamy body is covered overall with a clear glaze. The base is incised with a character, guan.

Provenance : In Japan prior to 1958.
Mineo Hata Collection, Kobe, Japan.

Literature: Kuroda Genji and Sugimura Yuzo, Toki zenshu (Complete Works of Pottery), vol. 14, Tokyo, 1958, pls. 48-49.
Sugimura Yuzo, Ryo no toji (Liao Ceramics), Tokyo, 1974.
Koyama Fujio, Sekai toji zenshu (The Complete Works of World Ceramics), vol. 10, p. 252, fig. 186.

Note: In Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, vol. 1, London, 1994, p. 196, no. 341, Regina Krahl illustrates a white stoneware water pot incised on the base with the character guan (official), and states that guan characters appear on both white stonewares as well as on celadon wares. While the guan inscription suggests that the pieces in this group were made for court use, it is unclear for which courts these pieces were made. A Ding bowl incised on the base with a guan mark in the collection of the Hunan Provincial Museum, is illustrated in Dingci yaji: Gugong bowuyuan zhencang ji chutu Dingyao ciqi huicui (Selection of Ding Ware: the Palace Museum’s Collection and Archaeological Excavation), Beijing, 2012, pp. 140-41, no. 54. See, also, the small white stoneware globular tripod jar also inscribed with a guan mark, dated to the Five Dynasties-Liao dynasty, sold at Christie’s New York, 23 September 2022, lot 942.

The inscription on the interior of the cover of the wood box was written in December of the 29th year of Showa (1954) by an individual with the sobriquet Kajin and states that the bowl was purchased in the 27th year of Showa (1952).

Lot 859. A very rare small gilt-decorated white stoneware hexalobed bowl, Northern Song dynasty (AD 960-1127); 11 cm diam., Japanese wood box. Estimate USD 12,000 – USD 18,000. © Christie's Image Ltd 2023

The bowl has gently rounded sides rising to a notched rim and is decorated on the interior with two gilt floral sprays. It is covered overall with a clear glaze of faint ivory tone.

Provenance : Mineo Hata Collection, Kobe, Japan.

Note: This bowl may have been produced in the Dangyangyu kilns, which were located in Xiuwu county, northern Henan province, and flourished in the Song dynasty. The Dangyangyu kilns produced wares that most commonly had incised or painted decoration on a white-glazed ground, or had carved or incised decoration on an ochre ground, although examples of marbled wares, green-glazed wares, and figural wares have all been excavated. The white-glazed wares from this kiln were refined and had a lustrous glaze, similar to Ding wares, and the painterly decoration compare to Cizhou wares. A shallow white-glazed Dangyangyu bowl which appears to have faint gilt-decoration of a floral spray, is in the collection of the Jiaozuo Museum, and was excavated in Jiazuo city, see Dangyangyu Kiln of China, Beijing, 2011, p. 379, no. 38. Compare, also a ding bowl with faint traces of water fowls and floral scroll in gilt, illustrated by H. Gakuji, Sekai Toji Zenshu (Ceramic Art of the World), vol. 12: Song, Tokyo, 1977, p. 23-24, no. 15-16.

Lot 860. A large carved Ding hexafoil bowl, Northern Song dynasty (AD 960-1127); 20.7 cm diam., Japanese double wood box inscribed by Fujio Koyama (1900-1975). Estimate USD 40,000 – USD 60,000. © Christie's Image Ltd 2023

The bowl has widely flared sides that rise from the small knife-cut foot to the hexafoil rim, and is covered overall with a clear glaze of ivory tone. The interior is divided into six sections by crisp, molded lines and is carved in the center with a single lotus spray.

Provenance : Tokugawa Family, Nagoya (according to label on box).
Mineo Hata Collection, Kobe, Japan.

Exhibited: Tokyo, Gotoh Museum (according to exhibition label in box).

Note: A hexafoil Ding bowl of comparable size, but carved allover with lotus sprays, in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in Zhongguo taoci quanji – Dingyao, vol. 9, Shanghai, 1981, pl. 90. Another foliate-rimmed bowl formerly in the collection of Sakamoto Goro, but with additional lotus sprays carved in the well of each lobed section, was sold at Sotheby’s New York, 16 September 2014, lot 7.

Lot 861. A Cizhou-type 'oil spot' tea bowl, Jin dynasty, 12th-13th century; 10.9 cm diameter, silk pouch, Japanese wood box. Estimate USD 20,000 – USD 30,000. © Christie's Image Ltd 2023

The tea bowl is covered inside and out with a blackish-brown glaze suffused with silvery 'oil spots' that falls in a thick line on the exterior above the dark brown wash covering the lower body.

Provenance: Mineo Hata Collection, Kobe, Japan.

Note: Cizhou-type ‘oil spot’ tea bowls from the Jin dynasty are very rare. ‘Oil spot’ glazes were invented at the Jian kilns in Fujian province in the Southern Song dynasty, but black wares were made as early as the 10th century in the late Five Dynasties-early Northern Song period. Cizhou examples of ‘oil spot’ tea bowls show the influence of these Jian examples in both shape and glaze.

A nearly identical Jin dynasty Cizhou-type ‘oil spot’ tea bowl from the Scheinman Collection is illustrated by R. Mowry in Hare’s Fur, Tortoiseshell, and Partridge Feathers, Cambridge, 1996, pp. 157-58, no. 50. See, also, an example dated to the Yuan dynasty, excavated from Tuchengzi site, Wulanchabu city, and currently in the Inner Mongolia Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, illustrated in Zhongguo chutu ciqi quanji (Complete Collection of Ceramic Art Unearthed in China), vol. 4, no. 193, which has slightly larger oil spots than the present bowl.

Lot 862. A rare Cizhou sgraffiato compressed globular jar, Northern Song dynasty (AD 960-1127); 15.9 cm diameter, Japanese double wood box. Estimate USD 20,000 – USD 30,000. © Christie's Image Ltd 2023

The deep, rounded sides are carved through an ivory-toned slip to the pale grey ground with a broad band of leafy floral scroll, between lappet borders, all under a clear glaze.

Provenance: Mayuyama, Tokyo, 1970s-80s.
Mineo Hata Collection, Kobe, Japan.

Note: A Cizhou jar of comparable size, but of slightly more compressed form and carved through an ivory-toned slip to a pale grey ground with a wide band of leafy floral scroll, is illustrated in Song Ceramics from the Kwan Collection, Hong Kong Museum of Art, 1994, pp. 326-7, no. 145, where it is dated late Northern Song. On the Kwan jar, a band of diagonal, overlapping petals is carved on the shoulder while a similar band appears on the lower body of the current jar. A larger (20 cm. high) Northern Song rounded jar carved with stylized peony scroll through a white slip ground, in the Idemitsu Museum of Arts, is illustrated in Sung Ceramics, Tokyo, 1979, mo. 93.

Lot 863. A carved Yaozhou celadon 'lotus' bowl, Northern Song dynasty (AD 960-1127); 13.3 cm diameter, Japanese wood box. Estimate USD 5,000 – USD 7,000. © Christie's Image Ltd 2023

The exterior of the bowl is carved with three rows of overlapping lotus petals extending from the foot rim. The bowl is covered overall with a glaze of olive-green tone.

Provenance: Mineo Hata Collection, Kobe, Japan.

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Lot 864. A marble-veneered bowl, Northern Song-Jin dynasty (960-1234); 13.3 cm diameter, cloth box. Estimate USD 6,000 – USD 8,000. © Christie's Image Ltd 2023

The bowl has rounded sides and is covered overall with a thin veneer of marbled dark brown and cream-color clay, all under a clear glaze.

Provenance: Mineo Hata Collection, Kobe, Japan.

Lot 865. A rare carved Cizhou bowl with dated inscription, Northern Song dynasty, dated by inscription to AD 962; 20.3 cm diameter, Japanese wood box. Estimate USD 10,000 – USD 15,000. © Christie's Image Ltd 2023

The bowl is covered with a creamy beige glaze accented with green splashes on one side of the rim. The interior is carved with a lengthy inscription below a narrow band of horizontal lines.

Provenance: Mineo Hata Collection, Kobe, Japan.

Lot 866. A very rare Qingbai ewer, cover and warming basin, Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279); Ewer and cover: 22.9 cm high, Japanese wood box. Basin: 16.5 cm dia. Estimate USD 40,000 – USD 60,000. © Christie's Image Ltd 2023

The ewer with hexalobed body is applied with a molded petal collar, and is set with a curved spout opposite the arched, strap handle. The cover is surmounted by a figure of a lion and is pierced with two holes for attachment. The deep basin is raised on a high foot molded with pendent overlapping petals and is divided into seven lobes, which are incised with stylized floral decoration. The ewer, cover and basin are covered overall with a translucent glaze of pale bluish tone.

Provenance: Yamashita Sakuro (b. 1908) Collection (according to label).
Hirano Kotoken, Tokyo (according to label on box).
Mineo Hata Collection, Kobe, Japan.

Literature: Kubosō Memorial Museum of Arts, Sosogu utsuwa (Ewers), Izumi, 1986, p. 62, no. 116.

Exhibited: Izumi, Kubosō Memorial Museum of Arts, Sosogu utsuwa (Ewers), 10 October 1986.

Note: It is very rare to find a ewer that has survived alongside its corresponding basin. A Northern Song dynasty qingbai ewer with a very similar cover surmounted by a seated lion, also with a lobed warming basin, was excavated in 2004 at Shangdang commune, Dantu county, Zhenjiang city, and is illustrated in Zhongguo chutu ciqi quanji - 7 – Jiangsu Shanghai (Complete Collection of Ceramic Art Unearthed in China), vol. 7, Beijing, 2008, no. 116. The Shangdang basin, however, lacks the band of molded petals around the foot.

Lot 867. A rare small Qingbai 'phoenix' water dropper, Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279); 11.4 cm high, Japanese wood box. Estimate USD 3,000 – USD 5,000. © Christie's Image Ltd 2023

The lobed, tapering ovoid body is raised on a splayed foot and surmounted by a large phoenix head supported on a ribbed neck. The shoulder is set with a strap handle opposite the short, curved spout, and the vessel is covered overall with a pale blue glaze.

Provenance: Mineo Hata Collection, Kobe, Japan.

Lot 868. A carved Qingbai 'boys' bowl, Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279); 20.3 cm diam, cloth box. Estimate USD 6,000 – USD 8,000. © Christie's Image Ltd 2023

The thinly potted bowl is carved on the interior with two boys amidst peony scroll and covered overall with a pale bluish-green glaze.

Provenance: Mineo Hata Collection, Kobe, Japan.

Lot 869. A rare Qingbai censer with reticulated cover, Northern Song dynasty (960-1127); 12.7 cm high, Japanese wood box. Estimate USD 12,000 – USD 18,000. © Christie's Image Ltd 2023

The censer has a rounded bowl that is raised on a tall splayed foot. The reticulated domed cover is molded with leafy scroll with four prominent fronds. Both censer and cover are covered overall with a translucent glaze of pale bluish-green tone.

Provenance: Mineo Hata Collection, Kobe, Japan.

Note: A qingbai censer with an openwork cover molded with similar leafy scroll, dated to the Northern Song dynasty, was excavated from the Baozhi Pagoda in Linggu Temple, Nanjing city, and is now in the collection of the Nanjing City Museum, see Zhongguo chutu ciqi quanji – 7 – Jiangsu Shanghai (Complete Collection of Ceramic Art Unearthed in China), vol. 7, Beijing, 2008, no. 112. Another qingbai censer with an openwork cover molded with chrysanthemum design, also dated to the Northern Song dynasty, is illustrated ibid., p. 111. See, also, a related but smaller (7.8 cm. high) white incense burner with an openwork cover, with a similar tall, splayed foot, in the Ji’nan Institute of Archaeology, illustrated in Zhongguo chutu ciqi quanji - 6 - Shandong (Complete Collection of Ceramic Art Unearthed in China), vol. 6, Shandong, Beijing, 2008, no. 100.

Lot 870. A superb Jizhou paper-cut-decorated 'phoenix' tea bowl, Southern Song dynasty (960-1127); 13.2 cm diam., brown lacquer cup stand incised with gilt floral scroll, silk pouches, Japanese wood and lacquer boxes. Estimate USD 70,000 – USD 90,000. © Christie's Image Ltd 2023

The deep bowl is decorated on the interior in resist technique with two long-tailed phoenixes in flight between three prunus blossoms, all reserved in dark brown on a variegated brown and buff ground. The exterior has pale buff speckling on a dark brown ground that falls short of a knife-cut edge above the low, narrow foot ring.

Provenance: Mineo Hata Collection, Kobe, Japan.

Note: One of interior box lids is inscribed by Kobori Sokei (b. 1923), the head of the Enshu School of Tea. The inscription compares the present bowl to an important tea bowl named Onaga-dori, a famous Jizhou bowl known since the 17th century. This bowl is listed in the inventory of masterpieces of tea ceremony utensils, Tsuchiya Soshu Chaki Densho, which was compiled by Tsuchiya Masanao (1641-1732), the regional ruler of the feudal domain of Tsuchiura in Hitachi. Sokei also notes that the gold characters on the cover of one of the inner boxes are transcribed in the calligraphic style of Lord Korbori Enshu (1579-1647).

Lot 871. A superb Longquan celadon 'Twin fish' dish, Late Southern Song-Yuan dynasty, 13th-14th century; 22.2 cm diam., Japanese wood box. Estimate USD 50,000 – USD 70,000. © Christie's Image Ltd 2023

The shallow, rounded sides that rise from the tapering foot to the everted rim are carved on the exterior with a band of upright petals, and the center of the interior is relief-decorated with two small fish, all under a glaze of sea-green color that also covers the interior of the foot.

Provenance: Important private collection, Kobe, acquired in the 1950s.
Mineo Hata Collection, Kobe, Japan.

Note: This dish is exceptional for its glaze of even, sea-green color. Examples of Longquan 'twin fish' dishes have been found in Southern Song kilns in the Longquan region, such as the dish unearthed at Jincun, illustrated in Longquan Qingci Yanjiu, Beijing, 1989, pl. 36:3. Other examples of longquan molded 'twin fish' dishes were recovered from the cargo of a trading vessel that sank off the coast of Sinan, South Korea, in the 1320s, and were included in the Special Exhibition of Cultural Relics Found off the Sinan Coast, National Museum of Korea, Seoul, 1977, pl. 28. Other examples are in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, included in Illustrated Catalogue of Sung Dynasty Porcelain in the National Palace Museum, Lung-chu'än Ware, Ko Ware and other Wares, Taipei, 1974, pl. 26, and in the Percival David Foundation, included in the Illustrated Catalogue of Celadon Wares, rev. ed., London, 1997, p. 27, no. 265.

Lot 872. A magnificent and important large Longquan celadon Kinuta vase, Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279); 35 cm high, silk pouch, Japanese double wood box. Estimate USD 700,000 – USD 1,000,000. © Christie's Image Ltd 2023

The vase is robustly potted with a mallet-shaped body with angular, sloping shoulders. The tall neck is flanked by a pair of handles in the form of dragon-headed fish, below the widely flared, dish-shaped mouth. The vase is covered overall with an even glaze of soft sea-green color, which ends in an irregular line above the unglazed foot rim. 

Provenance: Takeyama Kanshichi (1854-1907) Collection, Nagoya, Japan.
Takeyama Kanshichi Collection, Shunjuen, Nagoya, Japan; Osaka Bijutsu Club, 20 January 1914, lot 274.
Mineo Hata Collection, Kobe, Japan

A Magnificent and Unusually Large Longquan Celadon Kinuta Vase

Rosemary Scott, Independent Scholar

While Longquan vases of this form and with such an exquisite glaze have been highly prized from the time of their manufacture to the present day, the current vase would have been especially revered for its exceptional size and the shape and accomplished rendering of its handles. Kinuta vases were made with two types of handles – the more usual being in a relatively simple bird form (generally identified as a phoenix) and the rarer being in the form of a well-modelled dragon-fish. The current vase has especially fine dragon-fish handles.

The Japanese name kinuta, refers to a mallet, as these are regarded as mallet-shaped vases, and were imported into Japan in the Southern Song (1127-1279) and Yuan (1279-1368) dynasties. Like the current example, they were often characterised by especially fine Longquan glazes, and so the term kinuta is also sometimes applied as a complimentary term in relation to a glaze. In the Northern Song dynasty (AD 960-1127) the mallet form with wide flattened mouth, sharp shoulder junctions and almost straight sides, was made in two of the ceramic wares associated with the imperial court. A small number of Ding wares were made in this form, and an example with reduced mouth is in the collection of the Percival David Foundation (illustrated by Stacey Pierson in Song Ceramics - Objects of Admiration, Percival David Foundation, London, 2003, p. 20-1, no. 1). Perhaps more significantly, Ru wares made specifically for the Northern Song court, have been found in this form. A mallet-shaped Ru ware vase with wide flattened mouth was excavated in 1987 at the kiln site of Qingliangsi, Baofengxian, Henan province (Grand View: Special Exhibition of Ju Ware from the Northern Sung Dynasty, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 2006, pp. 114-5, no. 23), while the National Palace Museum, Taipei has two similar Ru ware vases with damaged mouths (ibid., pp. 116-19, nos. 24 and 25). The shape, despite resembling a paper mallet, may in fact have been introduced to China as a glass vessel from the Islamic west, possible Iran. Fragments of glass vessels of this shape were found in 1997 amongst the cargo of the Intan wrecked ship excavated off the Indonesian coast. This ship is believed to date to the Northern Song period. An Islamic glass vessel of this form was also found in 1986 in the tomb of the Princess of Chen of the Liao dynasty, the terminus ante quem for which is 1018 (illustrated ibid. cat. no. 25, fig. 2). It may also be significant that, according to the Southern Song scholar Hong Mai (1123-1202) in his Yijianzhi (Record of the Listener), the Northern Song Emperor Huizong (r. 1100-1126) had a collection of imported glass.

The esteem in which Longquan kinuta vases are held can be seen in the approbation they have received in modern Japan. A kinuta vase, with phoenix handles (height of 30.8 cm.), known as Bansei (Ten Thousand Cries), in the Kuboso Memorial Museum of Arts, Izumi, Osaka, has been designated as a Japanese National Treasure (see Special Exhibition – Chinese Ceramics, Tokyo National Museum, Tokyo, 1994, p. 125, no. 182). Another of phoenix-handled Longquan mallet vase (height of 29.2 cm.), from the Ataka Collection, now in the Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka (see Gakuji Hasebe (ed.), Sekai Toji Zenshu, vol 12, Sung, Tokyo, 1977, no. 209), has been designated an Important Cultural Property by the Japanese authorities (Fig. 1), as has an example, height 26.2 cm., known as Sensei (A Thousand Cries) in the Yomei Bunko, Kyoto (see Museum of Oriental Ceramics Osaka, Song Ceramics, 1999, p. 104, no. 67).

Fig. 1 Longquan celadon phoenix-handle vase, Northern Song dynasty, 12th-13th century, 29.2 cm. high. The Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka, no. 00319. Photographer: Muda Tomohiro

Longquan twin-handled kinuta vases can be found in several other collections in Japan, such as the Tokyo National Museum (see Illustrated Catalogues of Tokyo National Museum – Chinese Ceramics, Tokyo, p. 91, no. 372), the Nezu Museum, and the Hatakeyama Memorial Museum (see S. Hayashiya and H. Trubner, Chinese Ceramics from Japanese Collections, Asia House Gallery, New York, 1977, no. 22). An example with dragon-fish handles from the Tokugawa Art Museum, Nagoya, is illustrated in the exhibition catalogue Heavenly Blue: Southern Song Celadon, Nezu Museum, 2010, no. 23) (Fig. 2), while two further examples from the collection of the Seikado Bunko Art Museum, Tokyo, were included in the same exhibition (nos. 24 and 25).

 Fig. 2 Longquan celadon mallet-shaped vase with fish-shaped handles, 13th-14th century, 22.4 cm. high. The Tokugawa Art Museum.

The majority of surviving Longquan vases of kinuta form are between 23 and 30 cm. high – such as the phoenix-handled vase in the collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei, which is 25 cm. tall (see, Dynastic Renaissance – Art and Culture of the Southern Song – Antiquities, Taipei, 2011, pp. 88-9, no. II-6). However, there is a group of smaller examples like the vase with bird-shaped handles from the Qing Court Collection in the Palace Museum, Beijing (height 17.5 cm.) illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum – 33 – Porcelain of the Song Dynasty (II), Hong Kong, 1996, p. 110, no. 98, and the vase with dragon-fish handles (height 17.1 cm.), which was acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, in 1950. Two kinuta vases were excavated from a Southern Song dynasty tomb in Songyang county in 1983 – one with dragon-fish handles was 16 cm. high, while the other had phoenix handles and a height of 26.5 cm (see Zhu Boqian (ed.), Celadons from Longquan Kilns, Taipei, 1999, pp. 148-9, nos. 115-6). A Yuan dynasty phoenix-handled vase (height 25 cm.) was excavated from a hoard at Wenjia, Kaixian, Chongqing city (previously part of Sichuan province) and is now in the National Museum of the Three Gorges.

The current vase is one of a very small group of taller kinuta vases, and stands at 35 cm. high—with perfectly harmonious proportions. A vase, 35.6 cm. high, with bird handles and crackled glaze was excavated in Sichuan province prior to 1939, and is illustrated by Gakuji Hasebe (ed.) in Sekai Toji Zenshu, vol 12, Sung, op. cit., no. 208; it is believed to be currently in a private Japanese collection. A kinuta vase 33.5 cm. high with phoenix handles is in the collection of the Gotoh Museum of Art, Setagaya City, Tokyo (see Gotō bijutsukan meihin zuroku [Illustrated masterpieces from the collection of Gotoh Art Museum], Tokyo, 1960, pl. 86).

The current vase, which comes from an important late 19th-early 20th century private collection in Nagoya, is unusual not only in its height (35 cm.) but in having handles in the shape of yulong or feiyu (dragon-fish). These creatures have fish-like bodies and dragon-shaped heads, and are depicted in considerable detail, in contrast to the more common bird-shaped handles, which are rarely depicted in any great detail. Dragon-fish are mentioned in Chinese literature as early as the Bronze Age, and appear in legends related in the Shanhaijing (Classic of Mountains and Seas). They were included in painted and incised decoration on ceramics of the Tang dynasty (AD 618-907), from kilns such as Changsha and Yue, but do not seem to occur in three-dimensional high-fired ceramic form until the Song (AD 960-1279) and Liao (AD 907-1125) dynasties. By the Song dynasty handles such as these depicted a carp in the process of turning into a dragon. This evokes a legend, which dates from at least as early as the Eastern Han dynasty, and tells of the carp swimming up river to the Dragon Gate Falls. If it is successful in leaping over the gate it turns into a dragon. This legend soon came to represent the success of the Chinese scholars, who studied hard to pass the civil service examinations, and if they achieved the highest grade would attain a good official post. Such dragon-fish handles came to be applied to vessels made in precious metals during the Mongol period. A gold cup with twin handles of this type, probably originating from the Golden Horde in the late 13th-14th century, is in the collection of the State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg and was included in the New York Metropolitan Museum’s 2002 exhibition The Legacy of Genghis Khan – Courtly Art and Culture in Western Asia, 1256-1353, catalogue no. 139, illustrated p. 18, fig. 11.

In addition to the Beijing Palace Museum and Songyang county vases mentioned above, a small number of other kinuta vases with dragon-fish handles have been published. An example (height 16.8 cm.) from the collection of Sir Alan Barlow, is now in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London and is illustrated by Rose Kerr in Song Dynasty Ceramics, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 2004, p. 94, no. 95. Another small example (height 16.3 cm.) from the Meiyintang collection is illustrated in Musée Cernuschi, L’Âge d’Or de la Céramique Chinoise, Paris, 1999, p. 118, no. 88. One of the two vases of this type in the Carl Kempe collection is 20 cm high and the other measures 26 cm. (see Bo Gyllensvärd, Chinese Ceramics in the Carl Kempe Collection, Almqvist & Wiksell, Stockholm/Göteborg/Uppsala, 1962, p. 51, nos. 98 and 99 respectively). A further kinuta vase with dragon-fish handles (height 25.9 cm.) is in the Freer Gallery of Art, illustrated in The Freer Gallery of Art, I China, Washington D.C., 1972, no. 89. Other known examples of dragon-fish handled Longquan vases include one from the Njoo collection is 26 cm high (exhibited in Chinese Celadons and Other Related Wares in Southeast Asia, Arts Orientalis, Singapore, 1979, pl. 73, left), and a kinuta vase from the Brodie Lodge collection, which is 28 cm. high, and was exhibited in London in 1960 (see Oriental Ceramic Society, The Arts of the Sung Dynasty, The Arts Council, London, 1960, no. 173, pl. 64, right). A further dragon-fish handled vase, height 28.5 cm., formerly in the possession of Lord Matsudaira Fumai (1750-1818), was sold by Christie’s New York in March 2008, lot 561.

It is clear that such vases were appreciated in Japan from Kamakura period (1192-1333) as evidenced by two examples, which were excavated from the wreck of a vessel which sank off the Sinan coast of Korea in about 1323 on its way to Japan, (illustrated in the exhibition catalogue Xin’an haidi wenwu [Cultural Relics from the Sinan Seabed], National Museum of Korea, Seoul, 1977, colour plate 3). This vessel would have left China from the port of Ningbo, Zhejiang province, and a shard of the neck and dragon handle from one of these kinuta vases was excavated from the ancient wharf site of Dongmenkou at Ningbo (see Zhejiangsheng wenwu kaogusuo xuekan, 1981, pl. XI:8).

While Chinese ceramics had long been admired in Japan, the Kamakura period (1192-1333), coinciding with the Southern Song dynasty, saw a renewed vogue in Japan for Chinese art. Indeed, the Japanese scholar Professor Hiroko Nishida has noted that in the Kamakura period: ‘…the majority of the art and decorative art objects used in the ceremonies, interior decoration and tea drinking events of Buddhist Temples and the military class were objects imported from China.’ (Hiroko Nishida, ‘The Collection and Appreciation of Chinese Art Objects in 15th-16th Century Japan, and their Legacy’, Collecting Chinese Art: Interpretation and Display, S. Pierson (ed.). Colloquies on Art & Archaeology in Asia No. 20, Percival David Foundation, London, 2000, p. 10.) These objects were called karamono (Chinese things). Excavated evidence for their popularity can be seen in profusion not only in Kamakura itself, but at a variety of historical sites throughout Japan. Significant numbers of Song and Yuan Chinese ceramic sherds have been excavated at the Ichijo-dani site in Fukui prefecture, the Kusadosengen site in Hiroshima, several sites in Kyoto, and the port city of Hakata (Nishida, op. cit.). In addition, some major Japanese temples still have in their possession Song dynasty Chinese ceramics, which have been preserved over the centuries. The Daitoku-ji temple in Kyoto, for example, has in its collection a Longquan vase of the same form as the current example, with dragon-fish handles (see Daitoku-ji no meiho, Kyoto, 1985, pl. 96).

The current vessel is a particularly impressive example of this greatly admired type of Longquan kinuta vase.

Christie's. Mineo Hata: An Instinctive Eye, New York, 21 september 2023