Glazed stoneware marbled bowl, Northern Song dynasty, 12th century. Possibly Dangyangyu kilns, Xiuwu county, Henan province. Diameter: 9.1cm. Height: 3.8cm. © Eskenazi 2023

Known in Chinese as jiaotai or ‘mixed clay’, this marbled decorative technique is found on small scale objects of the period such as small bowls, ‘pulse pillows’, bottles, flat dishes, vases and rounded jars.

Green-glazed stoneware bowl, Northern Song dynasty, 960 - 1127, Yaozhou kilns, Shaanxi province. Diameter: 14.9cm. © Eskenazi 2023

The interior of the bowl is decorated with a single peony bloom within a circular medallion encircled by a band with two large peonies on scrolling stems. Where the decoration has been deeply carved, the glaze has pooled and appears darker, providing additional contrast to the design.

Celadon-glazed stoneware bottle, Northern Song dynasty, 11th or early 12th century, Yaozhou kilns, Shaanxi province. Height: 22.2cm. © Eskenazi 2023

During the Northern Song period, most of the output of the Yaozhou kilns consisted of bowls and dishes while upright forms were particularly rare. This bottle is one of only a few of such vessels known and similar examples are in the Musée Guimet, Paris and in the Shaanxi Institute of Archaeology in China. This vessel has an illustrious provenance – it was first recorded in a Japanese publication in 1943, in the collection of Takatori Tatsunosuke of Yokohama. Subsequently, it has been included in at least seven exhibitions, the most recent being Collectors, Curators, Connoisseurs: A Century of the Oriental Ceramic Society, 1921 – 2021 in 2021.

Green-glazed stoneware dish, Northern Song dynasty, 960 - 1127, Yaozhou kilns, Shaanxi province. Diameter: 16.2cm. © Eskenazi 2023

The very large multi-petalled peony bloom shaped almost like a beehive at the centre of the present dish is characteristic of the decoration of a small group of Yaozhou bowls and dishes. The peony is a favourite motif in Chinese ceramics, paintings and the decorative arts. Originally it was grown in the imperial gardens during the Sui and Tang dynasties and therefore became known as the ‘flower of wealth and rank’, referred to in Chinese as fuguihua.

Large glazed carved porcellaneous stoneware bowl, Northern Song dynasty, 11th - 12th century. Ding kilns, Hebei province. Diameter: 23.2cm. © Eskenazi 2023

Considered one of the ‘classic’ wares of the Song, Ding ceramics were produced from around the ninth century, with the period between the eleventh and twelfth centuries being the height of production. This rare bowl was in the collection of the collector/dealer A. W. Bahr (1877 - 1959) and subsequently went through the famous London dealers Bluett and Sons Limited in 1935 and was published by them in 1936.

‘Sky-blue’ glazed stoneware bowl, Northern Song dynasty, 11th - 12th century, Jun kilns, Henan province. Diameter: 17.7cm. © Eskenazi 2023

This bowl represents the epitome of Jun ware with its classic shape and thick opalescent ‘sky-blue’ glaze. Its subtle, luminous blue glaze is not created by pigments but is in fact an optical effect. During firing the Jun glaze separates into light-scattering droplets of glass. When light passes through the ‘glass emulsion’, there is a scattering effect during which the blue spectrum of light is reflected, providing the bluish hue to the ware.

Small glazed stoneware octofoil dish, Northern Song - Jin dynasty, 12th - 13th century. Jun kilns, Henan province. Diameter: 11.6cm. © Eskenazi 2023

Gem-like both in its rich, sky-blue glaze and delicate, foliate shape, this small dish is very rare. There appears to be only one other similar dish published, the example formerly in the collection of Georges de Batz. The present dish was formerly in the collection of the New York based collectors Mr and Mrs Samuel T. Peters (1854 - 1921) and (1859 - 1943) and was included in an exhibition in New York in 1914 at the Japan Society.

Black-glazed stoneware ‘oil-spot’ bowl, Northern Song - Jin dynasty, 12th - 13th century. Northern black ware. Diameter: 19.2cm. © Eskenazi 2023

The characteristic silvery markings of the ‘oil-spot’ glaze were produced when iron compounds separated from the iron-saturated glaze during firing and crystallized on the surface during the cooling process. The additional circular splashes on the interior of this bowl were created by the application of an iron-rich compound, probably with a brush, before firing.

Glazed stoneware bowl, Northern Song - Jin dynasty, 12th century, Northern black ware, Cizhou kilns. Diameter: 12.0cm. © Eskenazi 2023

The distinctive russet splashes on this bowl relate to the striking group of ‘partridge-feather’ mottled (zhegu ban) vessels – with dark glazes and russet markings - produced at the Cizhou kilns. Though vessels with these russet-splashed decoration originated at the Jian kilns in Fujian, several Cizhou kilns also became well.

Glazed slip-decorated ‘cat and butterfly’ stoneware pillow, Northern Song - Jin dynasty, 12th - 13th century, Cizhou, probably Guantai kilns, Hebei province. Height: 18.4cm. Width: 31.0cm. © Eskenazi 2023

The curved surface of this ceramic pillow provides the perfect blank canvas for this striking and playful scene of a pet cat toying with a butterfly. It is in fact produced by an extremely labour-intensive method in which black slip was applied over white slip on the pillow surface and then part of the black slip was cut away leaving the decoration in reserve. The combination of a cat with a butterfly also represents an auspicious wish for longevity.

Black-glazed stoneware bottle (yuhuchun ping) with ‘cut-glaze’ decoration, Jin - Yuan dynasty, 12th - 14th century, North China, Cizhou kilns. Height: 28.5cm. © Eskenazi 2023

Black lacquer ‘chrysanthemum’ dish, Song dynasty, 960 - 1279. Diameter: 17.6cm. © Eskenazi 2023

Thirty narrow lobes encircling the centre of this dish are carved to resemble the radiating petals of a chrysanthemum bloom. This rare dish was formerly in the collection of Yasuhiko Mayuyama, Japan and Sir Joseph Hotung, London.

Black-grey-glazed haikatsugi stoneware tea bowl and mother-of-pearl inlaid lacquer tea bowl stand. Bowl: Southern Song dynasty, 1127 - 1279, Jian kilns, Fujian province. Diameter: 12.8cm. Stand: Yuan dynasty, 1279 - 1368. Max. diameter: 16.7cm. © Eskenazi 2023

From the Jian kilns in Shuiji, Jianyang county, Fujian province, this particular bowl has fired on the exterior to a soft ash-grey tone, rather than the more usual black-brown. In Japan this type of glaze is especially prized and is known as haikatsugi; only a few examples are known, and the present one has been noted as being extremely rare for the fact that its glaze is truly grey. The bowl appears to have entered the collection of the Mori family of Kai prefecture (modern day Yamanashi) around 1660. Its significance was recognised at the time when it was itemised in the publication Ganka meibutsu-ki (Record of Famed Pleasurable Objects) (ca. 1660). Most recently, it has been in the collection of Chief Abbot Arima Raitei, of Shōkoku-ji Temple, Kyoto. The bowl is accompanied by a Yuan dynasty (1279 - 1368) mother-of-pearl lacquer tea bowl stand with intricately inlaid floral scrolls.

Celadon-glazed porcelain drum-shaped jar, Yuan dynasty, 13th - 14th century, Longquan kilns, Zhejiang province. Height: 16.5cm. Diameter: 20.7cm. © Eskenazi 2023

Such Yuan dynasty drum-shaped jars decorated with elaborate sprig-moulded peony scrolls are extremely rare and only a few examples of this type are known. The most celebrated is the covered example in the Seikado Foundation, which has been designated an Important Cultural Property in Japan. Like the Seikado Foundation vessel, the jar in the present exhibition is notable for its classic blue-green celadon glaze with its smooth jade-like surface and is decorated with a similar peony scroll.

Eskenazi. 'Chinese ceramics, lacquer and gold from the 12th to the 14th century', 19 October - 4 November 2023.