Page 60 - Sotheby's October 3 2017 Song Ceramics
P. 60
A RU ‘ICE CRACKLE’ BRUSH WASHER
Regina Krahl
R u guanyao, the official ware of the late Northern Song (960- Whatever one’s taste in this matter, there can be no doubt that this
1127) court from the kilns in Ruzhou, in modern Baofeng ravishingly beautiful vessel represents one of the most desirable
county, Henan province, has in the course of nearly a millennium examples extant. Pieces closest to the present piece in glaze quality
gained quasi mythical status. Ru ware is a part of China’s history, an would seem to be one of the examples in the Sir Percival David
emblem of China’s philosophy, a metaphor for China’s aesthetics Collection (53), one of the pair in the Röhsska Museum (57), and
– in short, an icon of China’s culture. The small and unobtrusive the piece in the Princessehof Museum (59). The list of preserved
ceramic pieces are considered the epitome of the Chinese potters’ specimens suggests, that the best glazes were achieved on the
craft, but they are far more than just that, they have a significant smaller and simpler vessel shapes, while on the larger and more
story to tell. They can be considered the crowning glory of any complex forms glazes often turned out less remarkable or even
collection of Chinese works of art, but they are and always were untypical, as on the famous pear-shaped vase in the Sir Percival
virtually unobtainable. David Collection, which Wang Qingzheng therefore went as far as
With its glowing, intense blue-green The small and unobtrusive doubting altogether (Wang et
glaze, its luminous, complex interlaced ceramic pieces are considered al., 1991, p. 116).
‘ice crackle’ pattern, its classic, the epitome of the Chinese
excellently proportioned shape, and its potters’ craft, the crowning The exquisite state of
three fine ‘sesame seed’ spur marks, glory of any collection of preservation of this washer
the present brush washer, formerly in Chinese works of art, but they would have required reverential
the collection of the Chang Foundation are and always were virtually handling over thousands of
in the Hongxi Museum, Taipei, is a unobtainable. generations during its nine-
picture-book example of Ru guanyao hundred-year long history. The
and incarnates to perfection the ware’s extreme rarity of Ru wares,
revered qualities. It would be difficult to which can hardly be overstated,
is due to a combination of
find a better ambassador for Ru ware. factors. When looking through
Although Ru ware – unlike guan ware of Hangzhou – is very the list of extant Ru pieces, it becomes clear that the Ru kilns did
distinctive, it still shows great variation in the glaze, which can range not practise large-scale series production. Of many shapes, only
from a pale milky-opaque green without any crackle, as seen on the one or two examples are known, and vessels of the same basic form
brush washer sold in these rooms in 2012 (no. 29 in our list, below), tend to differ in size and proportion and may be fired on three or
to the intense, glassy blue-green with a light-catching crackle in on five spurs. Of the five extant bottles (nos 1-5), for example, only
superimposed, horizontal, flake-like layers, known as ‘ice’ or ‘broken two are similar in form; the six ‘narcissus basins’ (nos 6-11) come
ice crackle’, found on the present piece. While some connoisseurs in at least two sizes; one of the three incense burners (nos 12-14) is
expressed a preference for the former, as, for example, the early much larger than the other two; and the thirty-three brush washers
Ming (1368-1644) writer Cao Zhao in his collectors’ handbook Ge (nos 30-62) vary in profile and range in size from 12.3 cm to 16.7
gu yao lun [The essential criteria of antiquities], the latter seems cm, without any particular size predominating.
to have been the ideal that the Hangzhou official (guan) kilns of Unlike in south China, where individual ‘dragon’ kilns in the
the Southern Song (1127-1279) tried to recreate. Both types are Longquan area for example, could extend to lengths of 100 m,
extremely rare, and there are many variations in between, some Ru kilns were small bun-shaped (mantou) kilns less than 2 m
rather matt and greyish, others with predominating, sometimes long. Their capacity was further limited by the fact that Ru pieces
stained, crackle lines, that cut vertically through the glaze layer were fired standing upright, each in its own saggar, rather than
without reflecting light.
58 | SOTHEBY’S 蘇富比
