Page 72 - Beyond Compare Christie's Hong Kong RU WARE .pdf

BEYOND COMPARE: A Thousand Years of the Literati Aesthetic

Museum, Beijing (fig. 7)(illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace
Museum - 33 - Porcelain of the Song Dynasty (II), Hong Kong, 1996, p. 112, no. 100).
A vase of this type was excavated in 1964 from a Southern Song tomb in the Sima
Bridge area of Chengdu in Sichuan province (illustrated in Longchuan Celadon: The
Sichuan Museum Collection, Macau, 1998, p. 85, no. 8), and another is illustrated in
Longquan Celadon of China, Hong Kong, 1998, pl. 90.

Exquisite vases such as the current example were greatly prized by Japanese tea masters
for display during the tea ceremony, and it seems that this vase may have been treasured
in that context in Japan for several hundred years. It has a very prestigious history. It
is possible that the history of this vase in Japan may go back as far as the Momayama
period (ࣹʆࣛ˾c. AD 1574-1600), but in the following Edo period (Ϫ㊓ࣛ˾ AD
1603-1867) its history becomes clearer. An article on the Masuda Donno collection
by Shirasaki Hideo, Donno Shushuhin Yuraiki published in Geijutsu Shincho (ͣ੠Ӹඪd
ඔॽႎණۜ͟টাdڄஔอᆓ), Tokyo, 1983 May, p. 59, notes that the current vase
had been handed down within the Hachisuka family ໶඲൭ˤ, and comments that
such a vase is very rarely seen in any museum exhibitions or publications, and that its
shape and glaze are exquisite.

The famous Hachisuka family, who rose to prominence in the second half of the 16th
century and became one of the most successful and long-lasting feudal clans in the fig. 5 A Longquan mallet vase with phoenix-form handles.
Collection of Palace Museum, Beijing
Edo period. The family are not only known as feudal lords or Daimyo ɽΤ of Awa ॱ̩ 㹩ᦾ㲋⡩♑᝸⁄ ٫̺ᐅ೫ښḵ㡗ⳉި
ڛت (modern Tokushima prefecture ㄬࢥ㵢, Shikoku ̬㵤), but are today in the
minds of many Japanese associated with a legend involving the then head of the family
Hachisuka Koroku Masakatsu ໶඲൭ʃʬ͍௷ (AD 1526-86) and Hiyoshimaru ˚Λ
ɬ, who would later become famous as Toyotomi Hideyoshi ▙ЅӸΛ (AD 1537-
98). The story goes that Masakatsu and his followers were crossing the Yahagi bridge
ͨЪ዗ in Mikawa ɧئ in the eastern part of what is today Aichi prefecture ฌٝ
㵢, when he tripped over the head of Hiyoshimaru, who, being at that time without
employment, was sleeping on the bridge. Masakatsu did not bother to stop, but,
having been woken up by the incident, Hiyoshimaru got up in a fury and grasped
hold of the tip of Masakatsu’s spear. Impressed by the younger man’s spirit, Makakatsu
apologised for his lack of respect and even offered Hiyoshimaru a position among his
samurai. The story appears in a biography of Toyotomi Hideyoshi in Ehon Taikoki
䌟͉˄ფা, compiled in the 18th century. While this is only a legend, nevertheless
it is clear that the subsequent success of the Hachisuka family was in considerable part
due to their association with Hiyoshimaru (Toyotomi Hideyoshi). Both Masakatsu
and his son Iemasa ࢕݁ (1558-1639) served Hideyoshi, playing significant roles in
a number of battles. During the last stage of Hideyoshi’s unification of the Japanese
archipelago, he granted the Awa region to Hashisuka Iemasa, in recognition of his
contribution to the conquest of Shikoku Island in 1585. The family remained rulers
of the Awa region, even after the transfer of power to the Tokugawa shogunate ㄬʇ
࿇ִ in 1603. By the end of the Edo period, the family had governed Awa for some
268 years.

From the point of view of the current vase, it is another side of Iemasa’s character
that is significant. Like a number of other war lords who served Hideyoshi, Iemasa
was a keen devotee of the tea ceremony, and several historical documents refer to his

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