Page 233 - Christie's, NYC Important Chinese Works Of Art Sept. 22-23, 2022

believed to have lived in the Tang dynasty. These figures were recognised
and venerated in the Song dynasty, and appear as a recognisable group in
northern China in the Jin dynasty. The emergence of the Eight Immortals as
a group accompanied the spread of the Quanzhen Complete Realization sect
of Daoism in China during the Jin and succeeding Yuan dynasty.

Although the rulers of north China during the Jin dynasty were Jurchens,
the elite adopted Chinese culture and supported the Chinese arts, including
theatre. In the Jin dynasty brick-built tombs of Shanxi province, which
followed Song traditions, theatre scenes often decorated the walls, including
depictions of the Eight Daoist Immortals. A number of such brick tombs
with ceramic sculptures, dating to the late 12th and early 13th centuries,
have been excavated in the area of Pingyang (present-day Linfen) in southern
Shanxi. However, it was in the Yuan dynasty that the Eight Immortals were
more widely popularised in literature and began to appear regularly in
paintings and, occasionally, in the decorative arts. The Daoist temple known
as Yongle Gong (Palace of Eternal Joy) built near the banks of the Yellow
River in Shanxi (and moved 15 miles north, piece by piece between 1958
and 1966, to Ruicheng xian in southern Shanxi to save it being flooded by
the new Sanmenxia Dam project) was built in honour of Lü Dongbin - one
of the Eight Immortals, who was believed to have been born nearby - and
its Chunyang dian (Hall of Purified Yang) contains murals depicting the
Eight Immortals. Yuan dynasty dramas such Yueyang Pavilion, The Bamboo
Raft, and Willow Tree in the South of the City all helped to bring the Eight
Immortals to prominence. The Eight Daoist Immortals are, however, relatively
rare on Yuan dynasty ceramics, and the small group of octagonal Longquan Li Tieguai Zhang Guolao Lu Dongbin Lan Caihe
celadon-glazed vases, to which the current meiping belongs, constitutes 李鐵拐 張果老 呂洞賓 藍采和
important surviving evidence of their early appearance in the decorative arts
generally and this medium in particular.

Fig. 4 Octagonal vase depicting the Eight Great Immortals of Daoism, Yuan dynasty
(1279–1368. China; Longquan, Zhejiang province. Yuan dynasty (1271–1368). High-
fired ceramic with mold-stamped decoration under glaze (Longquan ware). Asian Art
Museum of San Francisco, The Avery Brundage Collection, B60P372. Photograph ©
Asian Art Museum of San Francisco.
圖 四 龍泉青釉八仙圖八棱梅瓶, 元, 舊金山亞洲藝術博物館藏, 艾弗里·布倫達治珍藏, 館藏
編號B60P372, © 舊金山亞洲藝術博物館

觀近似但略為修長，圖見賀利著作《中國陶瓷》頁187編號364 (紐約：1996)。 (圖 代已有記述且備受推崇，時至金代，八仙這一組合在華北地區日漸普及。金元時期，
四) 就華盛頓弗利爾美術館藏近似例而言，每個稜面的三個開光俱光素無釉，圖見 道教全真派在中原廣為流傳，八仙形象的興起與此息息相關。
《Oriental Ceramics, The World's Great Collections》卷九之「弗利爾美術 及至金代，雖說稱雄華北的是女真族，但其菁英階層多通曉中土文化，甚而贊助諸
館」圖77 (東京、紐約、三藩市：1981)。2011年11月30日，香港佳士得拍出一例近似 多的中原藝術形式 (如戲曲)。位於山西的金代磚雕墓群呈宋式風格，其墓墻多飾以
的八方梅瓶 (拍品編號3010)，但其器身滿釉，並綴以飛青褐斑。已發表例子中，大 戲曲場景，當中也有關於八仙的描寫。在山西南部的平陽地區 (今臨汾)，曾出土幾個 He Xiangu Zhong Liquan Cao Guojiu Han Xiangzi
小、形狀和紋飾相若的飛青梅瓶僅見一例。此乃日本珍藏，圖見《世界陶瓷全集》卷 同類型的十二世紀末及十三世紀初磚雕墓，其文物中也有陶瓷雕塑。但直到元代， 何仙姑 鐘離權 曹國舅 韓湘子
十三之「遼金元」頁44-45編號32 (東京：1981)，此器與本拍品一樣，中段開光飾 八仙組合方以文學作品的形式廣為流傳，並不時出現於繪畫之中，間或亦用作裝飾
八仙紋，但開光四周有赭褐斑。另一近似例出自北京故宮珍藏，其體積較小，器身也 藝術題材。永樂宮坐落於山西省黃河沿岸 (1958年至1966年期間，分批遷至十五
有褐斑，圖見《中國文物精華大全：陶瓷卷》頁356編號626 (臺北：1993)。前述已 英哩以北、山西南部的芮城縣，以免因興建三門峽工程而被淹没)，這一道觀供奉的
發表作品中，似乎只有最後三例器肩的開光狀若相向的雙魚，而非四瓣式造型。 是八仙之一呂洞賓，據說其出生地相距不遠，宮內純陽殿壁畫中也有八仙的身影。
元曲劇目如《呂洞賓三醉岳陽樓》、《陳季卿誤上竹葉舟》及《呂洞賓三度城南柳》
本梅瓶中段開光內，祥雲圍繞者為八仙。除上文提到的李鐵拐外，餘者為鍾離權、呂 等，俱大大提高了八仙的知名度。然而，八仙題材在元代陶瓷中相對較罕，以本拍品
洞賓、張果老、韓湘子、曹國舅、藍采和及何仙姑，據稱泰半為唐代人物。他們在宋 為例的寥寥數例龍泉窯青釉八方梅瓶，誠為八仙在裝飾藝術及相關材質亮相之初
的重要實證。

8/16/22 12:12 PM
NYC20719_PGS_0200_0285.indd 230-231
NYC20719_PGS_0200_0285.indd 230-231 8/16/22 12:12 PM