Page 35 - Sotheby's October 3 2017 Song Ceramics

fig. 1
T his drum-shaped vessel, probably made to contain chess
(weiqi) pieces, is exquisitely potted, decorated, glazed and
fired and, not surprisingly, exceedingly rare. The Yaozhou kilns
at Huangpu, southwest of Tongchuan city in Shaanxi province,
which had gained renown through their pale green vessels with
deep, large-scale carving in the Five Dynasties period (907-960),
became China’s major suppliers of high-quality celadon wares in the
Northern Song dynasty (960-1127). While they turned to producing
bowls and dishes with incised or moulded designs on a vast scale,
they also created a small number of vessels in other shapes, which
were generally given particular attention and thus remained rare.
Comparisons to the present piece, with its charming applied
florets to reproduce ‘drum nails’, are mainly found in the form of
wasters discovered at the kiln site. One well-preserved box and
cover recovered from the kiln site, of similar form and design, but
with an additional foliate scroll around the centre, its glaze turned
a very dark tone especially where it pooled, is published together
with some chess pieces in Songdai Yaozhou yaozhi/The Yaozhou
Kiln Site of the Song Period, Beijing, 1998, col. pl. XI’ (see fig. 1);
also illustrated are fragments of boxes similar to the present piece
or with additional carving, pl. LXXXIX, figs 1-3, and p. 332, fig. 167:
1-12; and similar covers, with applied or impressed florets, or lacking
florets altogether, pl. XCIV, figs 3-5, and p. 346, fig. 172.
SONG — IMPORTANT CHINESE CERAMICS FROM THE LE CONG TANG COLLECTION
Celadon box and cover, together with chess pieces, excavated from
Yaozhou kiln site, Shaanxi province
© The Institute of Archaeology, Shaanxi
The complete example from the kiln site was included in the
exhibition The Masterpieces of Yaozhou Ware, Museum of Oriental
Ceramics, Osaka, 1997, pl. 76, together with a miniature version
from the collection of the Tokyo National Museum, cat. no. 77, and a
later version with more yellowish glaze, attributed to the Jin dynasty
(1115-1234), also excavated from the kiln site, pl. 89.
This type of covered box was copied by the Juntai kilns of Yuzhou,
Henan province, which are better known for their bright blue Jun
wares, which might explain differences in quality of some extant
pieces. A small example from the Juntai kiln site, decorated
with a diaper design around the centre, is illustrated in Henan
Sheng Bowuguan [Henan Provincial Museum], Beijing, 1985, pl.
133; a related piece, carved with a foliate scroll, is published in
Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection,
London, 1994-2010, vol. 1, pl. 422; and one from the Yang De Tang
collection, carved with petals and with a yellowish glaze, was sold in
our New York rooms, 17th March 2015, lot 62.
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