Page 5 - 2020 Nov 30 Christie's Hong Kong Important Chiense Works of Art
P. 5

THE ALEXANDER DING BOWL



               Rosemary Scott
               Senior International Academic Consultant Asian Art









               This magnificent Ding ware bowl has a most prestigious provenance.   ̯ᢶ൶૯೛⒋↡
               It was previously in the collection of William Cleverly Alexander
                                                                         ⳹ἯῚ
               (1840-1916)(fig. 1), who was a wealthy banker and keen connoisseur
                                                                         ४㢄̯ᨕⳔ⻒㒴ೀ⻒✼↰
               and collector of Chinese and Japanese art. He was also an early patron
               of James McNeill Whistler, who painted portraits of Alexander’s
               daughters and devised decorative schemes for both his London
               home and his country house in Sussex.  In his obituary for William
                                                                         ᛓ᪖ᐽ㐈⎏໸⚨ഌ⎾᳖㪿⢞ز卿⣌Ꮫ⻦།ὍӶ
               Alexander in 1916 the British artist and critic Roger Fry noted the
                                                                         㑂㑂ᝳल卿㠤リ།Ռ᫓ྒྷഌ卻8JMMJBN  $MFWFSMZ
               remarkable good taste which guided Alexander’s acquisition of
                                                                         "MFYBOEFS卿     ⯍      ჺ卼卻ॲː卼ἃݯԋԠ
               the pieces in his collection.  William Alexander collected Chinese
                                                                         ӬǯՌ᫓ྒྷഌ༛⊑Ӭᙹ卿ទ㕇Քᛓ␓ݏℒߪ⎏ԋ
               ceramics and jades, was a member of the London Burlington Arts
                                                                         ᚚ⻱ワ㦶⻦།ǯձᝤᛓ⊺།ዃᙱࡘ卻+BNFT  .D/FJM
               Club, and loaned items from his collection to a number of important
                                                                         8IJTUMFS卼⎏᚝ឆ㐫ࡂ՞ԠӬ卿ᇌ⩢ᝪई㉂ἃՌ᫓
               exhibitions – including the exhibition held at the Burlington Arts
                                                                         ྒྷഌࢨ㞖⥾ㅳ⫅۬卿ᝤἃݯٳᘹᄙ㚲ࣿ⻉౻ݐᙱ
               Club in 1895.  He loaned the current basin to the ground-breaking
                                                                         㛮㧿ߣಘᦔሲㅛ㱈ᡟ཭ǯ     ჺ卿Ⲗஇ⻱ワ།ᜫ
               exhibition of Chinese Applied Art held at the City of Manchester Art
                                                                         ㉮㋏།ᅹ⵭卻3PHFS  'SZ卼ங㈴⪡ԋᓽߪ卿Ռ᫓ྒྷ
               Gallery in 1913 (see Catalogue of an exhibition of Chinese applied art:
                                                                         ഌ⎏㐟⻦⊂Ᲊ⽔⽔㵲→Ի⻦།⎏㙭㇦ࢴ㍃ǯ㩶ⷙ
               bronzes, pottery, porcelains, jades, embroideries, carpets, enamels, lacquers, etc.,
                                                                         ⻦ԋஇ㪃≢কℱ଍Ԡം卿Ռ᫓ྒྷഌՔᛓٳᘹ֬㬦
               City of Manchester Art Gallery, 1913, cat. no. 774).  Following his
                                                                         㯀⧻ワكᦼ㛑卻#VSMJOHUPO  "SUT  $MVC卼Ꮀ৘卿Ԇഅ
               death, Alexander’s daughters bequeathed paintings from his collection
                                                                         ᪖ം٨⻦৅Խ㞒㞔⡯ཿ㈇ᝯ卿     ჺ⎏֬㬦㯀⧻
               to the National Gallery in London.  In May 1931 his daughters
                                                                         ワكᦼ㛑ཿ㈇ᝯ؝ᛓӬ׾ǯទᐽ৅Քᝪ٨Խᝩᇫ
               sold Alexander’s Asian art at Sotheby’s London in a two-day sale –
                                                                         ᙱ⁞ఉ⧻ワ㱦卿ங      ჺӬౚዪ⨒㞒ഌ⎏႙⻱৅
               including the current bowl, which was sold as lot 48 and bought by
                                                                         ཿ㈇ᝯӳՙ⏟卿எ㇦Ƕ$BUBMPHVF PG BO FYIJCJUJPO PG
               the respected London dealers Bluett & Sons.  Such was the quality of
                                                                         $IJOFTF BQQMJFE BSU  CSPO[FT  QPUUFSZ  QPSDFMBJOT  KBEFT
               Alexander’s Chinese pieces that a significant portion of the collection
                                                                         FNCSPJEFSJFT  DBSQFUT  FOBNFMT  MBDRVFST  FUD Ƿ⤔⽚
               was bought by the revered British collector Sir Percival David.
                                                                           ᝩᇫᙱ⁞ఉ⧻ワ㱦卿     ǯՌ᫓ྒྷഌࣸӽԠᇌ卿
                                                                         ݯഺݓཆᄎ⻦ल⊺㐩Խٳᘹஇ།⧻ワ㱦ǯ     ჺ
               This impressive Ding ware bowl is not only beautiful, but also a
                                                                           ᝲ卿ീٛඋ㉂ٳᘹ⼖༛ᬘᐽ㐈Ռ᫓ྒྷഌՌᰲ⻱ワ
               remarkable achievement on the part of the Northern Song potter
                                                                         Ⅷ⻦卿߿ᇌ᫓ᛞݦ഍卿ទ໸⚨ഌ⎾ԛⱪⱪᐽ৅Ԡ
               who created it.  Open-ware vessels of this unusually large size are rare
                                                                         Ӭ卻ᐽ৅⤔⽚   卼卿ᝬ⢏Ɽⶔٳᘹऒⶸलਦ #MVFUU
               amongst Ding wares, and posed a particular challenge to the potters
                                                                           4POTǯՌ᫓ྒྷഌԋஇⅧ⻦։։⠢ഞ卿Ⲗஇᘘ⻦᯿
               and kiln masters.  Ding wares were fired in kilns known either as
                                                                         ᙟഌ⣠ᇪ
೥Ք㯟㯟߅Ꮫӻᘘ♶≾㎒ǯ
               mantou kilns ( 㲀㯔⚨ bread bun kilns) or horse-shoe shaped kilns.
               These kilns were typical of north China in the Song dynasty and   ᫉׾໸⚨ഌ⎾Ӷۣ㫅㪿ഌ᭔卿ӻ⏌㰆࢈໬ㅳ≢႙
               were cross-draught kilns capable of achieving the high temperatures -   ⻱Ԡ⠢ᴗǯ५रഌൈទᐽ৅⎏໸⚨⏎⎾ཐԠࣽ
                                o
               in the region of 1300 C - needed to fire the high alumina Ding ware   ཐ卿୬ἃཌ㪃ࢎᎵ⚨Ⴧ⩧㈲卿ݯ῟㙁㫙ᄟ⏟⋁ഌǯ
               clay successfully.  The disadvantage of the mantou kilns was that they   ῟ㅳ໸⚨଍അ⊇㲀㯔⚨Ꮅ㲬㓯⚨卿㲀㯔⚨⏇リᙻ
                                                                                                                 3
   1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   10