Page 157 - 2020 October 8 HK Fine Classical Paintings

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PROPERTY OF A LADY 南宋 吉州窰黑地彩繪梅瓶
A VERY RARE JIZHOU MEIPING
SOUTHERN SONG DYNASTY 來源：
益清閣收藏
decorated with two quatrefoil cartouches enclosing ruyi 香港佳士得2013年5月29日，編號2001
scrollwork, separated by swirl motifs, below dots and key-fret
bands along the rim and neck respectively, all against a dark
brownish-olive ground stopping above the base and exposing
the pale buff footring
20.5 cm, 8 in.
PROVENANCE
The Yiqingge Collection.
Christie’s Hong Kong, 29th May 2013, lot 2001.

HK$ 1,600,000-2,000,000
US$ 207,000-258,000

Boldly painted with ruyi heads surrounding a central flower
against a dark brown ground, this vase attests to the high level
of creativity among potters active at the Jizhou kilns during the
Southern Song dynasty. Located in central Jiangxi province,
along the banks of the river Gan, these kilns, which had been
active since the Tang dynasty, flourished in the 12th and 13th
centuries, when the Song imperial court and its entourage
moved to the city of Hangzhou.
Among the repertoire of innovative designs devised by the
Jizhou potters, the pattern of guri (ruyi) scrolls is among the
most challenging and when successfully fired, among the
most visually striking. The design was carefully painted with
a buff-coloured slip over the lustrous dark-brown glaze. Only
the most capable and skilled potters were able to achieve
clear designs, as the slip often runs over the black glaze during
firing, making the overall design blurry. The clear rendering of
the motif on the present piece, and its golden hues make this
piece a masterpiece of the Jizhou kilns.
Vases of this form and design are very rare and only one other
vase painted with a similar motif, but fired to a less attractive
brown glaze, appears to be published, when it was offered in
our New York rooms, 23rd March 2011, lot 541. This technique
was more commonly used on vases painted overall with the
guri pattern, such as a meiping, excavated in Qingjiang county,
Jiangxi province, now in the Jiangxi Zhangzhou City Museum,
illustrated in Ye Peilan, Yuandai ciqi [Porcelain of the Yuan
dynasty], Beijing, 1998, pl. 534; another in the Tokyo National
Museum, included in Illustrated Catalogue of Tokyo National
Museum. Chinese Ceramics I, Tokyo, 1988, pl. 674; a third sold
in our New York rooms, 30th March 2006, lot 33; and a further
meiping from the Linyushanren collection, sold at Christie’s
Hong Kong, 2nd December 2015, lot 2825.
The Jizhou potters took inspiration from a wide variety of
sources, including contemporary textiles, lacquer and silver.
The design on this vase was likely inspired by contemporary
lacquer wares, carved with ruyi-shaped pommels that are
known with the Japanese name guri. This motif was also
reproduced in silver, as on a meiping, excavated from a hoard
in Deyang county, illustrated in Zhongguo meishu quanji.
Gongyi meishu bian [Complete series of Chinese art. Arts and
crafts section], vol. 10 Beijing, 1987, pl. 99.

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