Page 52 - Beyond Compare Christie's Hong Kong RU WARE .pdf

BEYOND COMPARE: A Thousand Years of the Literati Aesthetic

A NORTHERN SONG CELADON RU
WARE BOWL

Tetsuro Degawa, Director,
The Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka

The newly discovered heirloom Ru ware bowl; its beauty of colour
and form

t was very fortunate to have been able to showcase the newly discovered
IRu ware bowl in The Beauty of Song Ceramics exhibition at the Museum of
Oriental Ceramics, Osaka in 2016.
This new discovery would be the third known heirloom Northern Song Ru ware
in Japan, and the only one in the bowl form. The lip was broken and repaired
with gold, but there was no evidence of any foreign fragments used in the course
of the restoration. The piece was kept and handed down originally in its complete
form, but was broken and then carefully restored with lacquer mixed with gold -
the traditional kintsugi technique of restoration - by the then owner. The lacquer
adheres the broken sections together, and gold powder is added to the join lines
for aesthetic purposes. This method is traditionally used on tea wares, where the
gold lacquer draws one’s attention and adds to the appreciation. When it was
shown at the exhibition in Osaka, the rim was broken in six parts and repaired by
kintsugi, as show in the illustration. (fig. 1)

The newly discovered Ru ware bowl was included in the exhibition purely by
chance. When we were preparing for the Beauty of Song Ceramics we were informed
of the existence of an heirloom Ru ware. The representative of the owner brought
the actual object to the museum to be authenticated. In November 2015, our chief
curator Mr. Kobayashi inspected the actual piece and reported his findings to me.
Later in March 2016, the piece was brought in to the museum again, and I had
the chance to see the work in person. The form and size were comparable to the
excavated examples, on each three small spur marks were visible at the foot. Its
superior glaze colour, however, is probably why it survived as an heirloom object.
We confirmed this was indeed authentic Ru ware and the bowl was deposited at the
museum that day, to be included in our exhibition in December. In some cases,
we would ask for the opinion of external experts, but having carried out numerous
studies and research on Ru wares, we were very confident in our assessment. Having
inspected many examples of both excavated and heirloom Ru celadon wares, the
consensus between Mr. Kobayashi and me was very compelling.

Unlike excavated examples, this bowl, with its exquisite colour and lustrous
surface, possesses dignity. The thinning glaze around the rim shows the colour of
the body underneath is of faint pinkish tone, with three small spur marks at the
foot. Excavated pieces are often chipped and unattractive in comparison.

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