Page 72 - Christie's Hong Kong Important Chinese Works Of Art May 30 2022

A CLASSIC OF YUAN DYNASTY BLUE AND

WHITE PORCELAIN

ROSEMARY SCOTT, INDEPENDENT SCHOLAR,
VISITING CERAMICS RESEARCH FELLOW, PALACE MUSEUM, BEIJING

Amongst the most iconic of the large forms seen in Yuan dynasty Undoubtedly one of the most successful decorative elements used on
blue and white porcelain is the tall meiping vase with elegant tapering the shoulders of large Yuan blue and white meiping vases was the so-
shoulders, exemplified by the current vessel. The generous size and called cloud-collar, seen on the current vessel, where the four pendent
smooth sides of these vases afforded the ceramic decorator ample scope cloud-collar elements are filled alternately with lotus scrolls and with
to create complementary designs, and one of the most successful and flying geese among chrysanthemum scrolls. The treatment of the
popular decorative schemes involved the division of the decoration cloud-collar band varies between the extant Yuan dynasty meiping
vertically into three major decorative bands encircling the vessels. vessels. A large meiping in the collection of the Shanghai Museum
The tradition of dividing the decoration on tall meiping vessels (illustrated by the Shanghai Museum in Splendors in Smalt – Art of
into three encircling bands was already established in China in
the Northern Song dynasty (AD 960-1127), as can be seen on the
Ding ware vase in the collection of Sir Percival David, illustrated
by R. Scott in Imperial Taste – Chinese Ceramics from the Percival David
Foundation, Los Angeles/San Francisco, 1989, p. 25, no. 4 (PDF 101).
Interestingly, like the current Yuan dynasty vase, the Percival David
Ding ware meiping, along with another similar Northern Song Ding
vase excavated in 1955 from a site near Nanjing(see Chūgoku tōji
zenshū, Kyoto, 1981, p. 163, pl. 78), also has a large-scale peony scroll
in the main decorative band. The substantial multi-petalled peony
blossoms – depicted full-face or in profile – provided dramatic impact,
especially when painted in deep cobalt blue, while the frilled edges of
the petals introduced a pleasing counterpoint. Thus, this decorative
scheme made a very successful transition from fine Song monochromes
to Yuan blue and white porcelains. fig. 1 Collection of the Shanghai Museum
圖一 上海博物館藏品

元 青花牡丹紋梅瓶

蘇玫瑰 獨立學者暨故宮陶瓷研究所客座研究員

芸芸元青花大器之中，形象最鮮明者當數秀麗挺拔的溜肩梅瓶，本拍品堪可為此現身說法。由於體形寬碩、器表平滑，
畫瓷者得以大展身手，鋪陳主次分明、交相輝映的紋樣，而最膾炙人口且長盛不衰的構圖，是將器身主紋飾帶區隔為
上、中、下三段之格局。這種將修長梅瓶主紋飾帶一分為三的樣式，肇興於北宋(公元960-1127年)，就此可參考大維德爵
士珍藏定窯瓶(館藏號PDF 101)，圖見拙作《Imperial Taste–Chinese Ceramics from the Percival David Foundation》頁25
編號4(洛杉磯/三藩市：1989)。有意思的是，大維德定窯梅瓶跟本拍品一樣，主紋飾帶內亦繪一匝圓碩飽滿的纏枝
牡丹紋，1955年南京附近出土的近似北宋定窯瓶也有相同的紋飾，圖見《中國陶瓷全集》頁163圖版78(京都：1981)。
此類牡丹紋的花瓣飽滿繁密，正面和側寫兼而有之，並以幽深穠麗的青花鈷料繪就，瓣沿飾柔美的波紋，搭配自然
協調。細味之下，此類構圖不啻為宋代單色釉佳瓷過渡至元青花的一次華麗轉身。

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