Page 248 - 2019 September 13th Christie's New York Important Chinese Works of Art

(another view)

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A RARE JUN TWIN-HANDLED JAR
YUAN-MING DYNASTY, 14TH-15TH CENTURY
The jar is potted with a globular body raised on a slightly splayed foot, and has In the Song period, Jun wares from Yuxian, Henan province with areas
two strap handles fanking the slightly fared cylindrical neck. The exterior is of contrasting copper-red were widely admired. Much emphasis was
covered with a thick purplish-red glaze with an area of crackled sky blue color unsurprisingly placed on the quality of the thick, opalescent glaze. The
on one side and continues over the lipped rim to cover the inside of the neck, most important characteristic of Jun glaze is the phenomenon known
the remainder of the interior unglazed. as ‘liquid phase separation’ which is the formulation of tiny globules of
lime-rich glass within the silica-rich glaze matrix, efecting the passage
6¬ in. (17 cm.) diam.
of light in such a way as to produce an attractive blue efect. Jun ware
$60,000-80,000 production understandably required great skill and control of the glaze and
the fring conditions. Such delicate balances perhaps encouraged a degree
of experimentation as the efects of minute changes were observed and
PROVENANCE understood, leading to the development of new styles of Jun decoration.
Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Clark Collection, United Kingdom, no. AIC 716.
Sotheby’s London, 25 March 1975, lot 95. This jar is very unusual for its almost entirely red surface. See a jar of similar
Sotheby’s London, 11 December 1979, lot 227. shape dated to the Yuan dynasty illustrated in A Panorama of Ceramics in the
Bonhams London, 7 November 2013, lot 11. Collection of the National Palace Museum: Chün Ware, Taipei, 1999, no. 104.
Under the Qianlong reign, the famous Imperial ceramics supervisor, Tang
EXHIBITED
Ying (1682-1756), sent a craftman to Yuxian to research into the glaze recipe
London, Exhibition of Chinese Art for Chinese Medical Relief, 1938.
of the Jun ware, and Jun ceramics with the same shape and glaze were
London, The Oriental Ceramic Society Exhibition of Sung Dynasty Wares: Chun
created. See a Jun-type jar of related shape from the Qianlong period in the
and Brown Glazes, 1st-3rd May 1952.
Zande Lou collection illustrated in Qing Imperial Monochromes: The Zande
Lou Collection, Shanghai Museum, Beijing Museum, and Art Museum, The
LITERATURE
The Oriental Ceramic Society Exhibition of Sung Dynasty Wares, Chun and Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2005, pp. 118, no. 48.
Brown Glazes, London, 1952, cat. no. 151.
元/明 鈞窯玫瑰紫雙耳罐

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