Page 66 - Sotheby's Asia Week March 2024 Chinee Art

A masterpiece of the Longquan kilns produced during the as seen on the present vessel. Similar to the fabled Guan
Southern Song dynasty, the present vase is exquisitely potted ware, the glaze was applied in multiple layers, thus appearing
and covered overall in a delicate, luminous green glaze. Its thick and lustrous.
elegant silhouette with a tall slender neck and compressed
globular body along with the slightly raised horizontal The drastic political shift during the early Song dynasty
ribs imitating bamboo grooves epitomize the celebrated from a society ruled by hereditary aristocracy to one
understated sophistication of Southern Song porcelains. governed by a central bureaucracy of highly educated
scholar-officials had a major impact on the arts of the
Already during the Northern Song, Confucian and Daoist period. The keen interest in antiquities prompted a revival
principles of ritual propriety and decorum permeated the of archaic forms in ceramic production. Indeed, the
culture of daily life, extending to the ruling philosophy of unassuming form of the present vase finds its origins in
the court. When the Jurchen people invaded from the North bronze vessels of the Han dynasty, such as one cast with
and conquered the Central Plain, the Song Court retreated raised ribs, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
southward and established a new capital in Lin’an, marking (accession no. 2007.133). This timeless form, borrowed
the start of the Southern Song dynasty. The support of from archaic bronze vessels, was not only appreciated by
the newly-established court ushered in an unprecedented Song contemporaries, but also continued to be sought after
growth for the Longquan kilns. Both the court and scholar- for centuries as a standard of refined elegance. The Qing
officials that settled in Hangzhou favored these wares with Emperors were especially fond of Song ceramics, and in
seemingly modest forms covered in mesmerizing glazes a painting by Giuseppe Castiglione in the National Palace
with a depth of color and tactility that resembled treasured Museum, Taipei (accession no. 故畫000803N000000000),
jade. To recreate the jade-like appearance, craftsmen began dated 1723, the first year of the Yongzheng Emperor’s reign,
replacing the traditional lime-based glaze with a lime-alkali a vase of the same form is depicted holding a beautiful lotus
glaze, which resulted in higher viscosity and a softer gloss, flower bouquet.

The present lot exhibited in Koetsukai. Pieces for the Tea Ceremony including Flower
Vases (Ikebana), Koetsu-Ji Temple, Kyoto, 26th April 2014.
本品展於《Koetsukai. Pieces for the Tea Ceremony including Flower Vases
(Ikebana)》，光悅寺，京都，2014年4月26日

See a closely related vase, of slightly larger size, from Museum, Beijing (accession no. 新00109041), is illustrated
the collection of Sir Percival David, now in the British in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace
Museum, London (accession no. PDF.202), illustrated in Museum. Porcelain of the Song Dynasty (II), Hong Kong,
Margaret Medley, Illustrated Catalogue of Celadon Wares 1996, pl. 103; a smaller example was sold twice in these
in the Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, London, rooms, 30th March 2006, lot 27, and 23rd March 2011,
1977, pl. 50 (fig.1); another, with a shorter lip, and of lot 547; and one, also with a shorter, rounded lip, from
a Guan-type crackled glaze, is in the Palace Museum, the Estate of Elizabeth Fondaras was sold at Christie’s
Beijing, illustrated in Tianxia Longquan: Longquan qingci yu New York, 20th September 2013, lot 1276.
quanqiu hua / Longquan of the World: Longquan Celadon
and Globalization, vol. 1, Beijing, 2019, cat. no. 21; a third, is For excavated examples, see a similar vase excavated
illustrated in the 15th Anniversary Catalogue of the Idemitsu at the kiln site in the Longquan area, published in
Museum of Arts, Tokyo, 1981, cat. no. 886; and lastly one Longquan qingci yanjiu [Research on Longquan
is illustrated in Sekai Toji Zenshu / Ceramic Art of the celadon], Beijing, 1989, pl. 41; and a further vase,
World, Ming dynasty vol. 14, Tokyo, 1961, pl. 227. A vase recovered in Suining, Sichuan province, published in
with a more slender neck and a rounded lip, in the Palace Celadons from Longquan, Taipei, 1998, pl. 114.

128 SOTHEBY’S COMPLETE CATALOGUING AVAILABLE AT SOTHEBYS.COM/N11410 129