Page 69 - Sotheby's October 3 2017 Song Ceramics

figs. 3-5
Heirloom Ru official
wares in private hands
apart from lot 5.

fig. 3
Ru dish (no. 80),
collection of Au Bak
Ling, formerly collection
of Stephen Junkunc III,
Christie’s New York,
3rd December 1992, lot
276. © 1992 Christie’s
Images Limited

fig. 4
Ru lobed brush washer
(no. 29), formerly
collection of Alfred
Clark, Sotheby’s Hong
Kong, 4th April 2012,
lot 101.

fig. 5
Ru dish, reduced
(no. 69), formerly
collection of Stephen
Junkunc III, Christie’s
New York, 29th March
2006, lot 401. © 2006
Christie’s Images
Limited

Although it is not always easy to establish beyond any doubt Starting in 1940, no more than six Ru vessels have ever appeared at
whether a piece has been excavated or was handed down, this auction besides the present piece:
author would also be inclined to suspend for the time being the
inclusion in this list of four further pieces, whose heirloom status The bottle from the Eumorfopoulos collection, now in the Sir
has not yet been verified: three brush washers included by the Percival David Collection in the British Museum (no. 3), Sotheby’s
Palace Museum (Beijing, 2015, figs 34, 56, and 59) listed below as London, 28th May 1940, lot 135.
(88), (89) and (90); and one cup or small bowl that has recently
come to light in Japan, listed below as (91). One further brush The ‘narcissus basin’ with metal rim from the Ataka Collection, now
washer, which appeared in a publication in 1922 is presently in the Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka, (no. 10), Sotheby’s
unaccounted for, see (92) below. London, 17th March 1959, lot 26, and 24th February 1970, lot 1.

On the other hand, four vessels, whose status has been fully The brush washer from the K. S. Lo Collection, now in the Hong
confirmed, seem to be missing from the Beijing list and can here Kong Museum of Art (no. 51), Sotheby’s London, 15th April 1980,
be added: a third tripod incense burner in the Cincinnati Art lot 140.
Museum, here listed as 14; two brush washers in museums in The
Netherlands and in Denmark, included below as 59 and 60, and a The dish from the Stephen Junkunc III Collection, now in the
dish in the Shanghai Museum, 68 – to bring the total number to collection of Au Bak Ling (no. 80), Christie’s New York, 3rd
eighty-seven. December 1992, lot 276 (fig. 3).

In 1986, when the kilns making Ru official ware for the Northern The reduced dish from the Stephen Junkunc III Collection, now in a
Song (960-1127) court were discovered and excavated in private collection (no. 69), Christie’s New York, 29th March 2006,
Qingliangsi, Baofeng county, Henan province, a large number lot 401 (fig. 5).
of additional pieces, mostly damaged or fragmentary, was
recovered from the kiln site. Since these pieces had obviously not The lobed brush washer from the Alfred Clark Collection, now in a
been intended for delivery to the court, but were retained in the private collection (no. 29), Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 4th April 2012, lot
workshops due to perceived imperfection, or being unfinished (for 101 (fig. 4).
example, in unglazed, biscuit-fired state), these are not included in
our consideration here. What is most remarkable when looking through this list of eighty-
seven heirloom pieces of Ru official ware, is that virtually all
examples are now preserved in museum collections and less than a
handful are left in private hands (figs 3-5).

SONG — IMPORTANT CHINESE CERAMICS FROM THE LE CONG TANG COLLECTION | 67