Page 50 - Important Chinese Art, Sotheby's London May 15 2019

20

PROPERTY FROM THE RUI XIU LOU COLLECTION
A RARE LARGE MARBLED MEIPING
FIVE DYNASTIES - SONG DYNASTY
the subtly waisted lower body rising to broad shoulders and
a tall waisted neck with an everted rim, elegantly potted
using striated and interlocking cream and dark brown
coloured clays creating a radiating feathered pattern, the rim
and foot covered with a creamy-white slip
46 cm, 18⅛ in.
‡ £ 100,000-150,000
HK$ 1,030,000-1,540,000
US$ 131,000-197,000

五代至宋 絞胎梅瓶

Elegantly modelled with gently swelling shoulders and a
slightly flared foot, this vase is striking for its impressive
large and straight size which would have required the utmost
precision and control in the potting and firing process as
the vessel could easily have warped and misfired in the kiln.
The potter’s utmost proficiency of the medium is further
evidenced in the vibrant marbled effect which was skilfully
executed to create a highly captivating abstract motif. Known
in Chinese as jiao tai (“mixed clay”), marbling was achieved
by twisting and kneading together two different-coloured
clays. The technique allowed for a myriad of decorative
possibilities, some of which were likened to the patterns of
wood grain or birds’ feathers.
Wares of this type were first developed in the Tang dynasty
(618-907) and are believed to have been inspired by Western
marbled glass traded along the Silk Route, which began
circulating in China from the Eastern Han period (25-220
AD). A marbled glass bottle made along the Mediterranean
coast, recovered from an Eastern Han tomb in Luoyang,
now in the Luoyang Museum, was included in the exhibition
China. Dawn of a Golden Age, 200-750 AD, The Metropolitan
Museum of Art, New York, 2002, cat. no. 13. The technique
continued to be used in the Song period, and fragments
of marbled wares have been recovered at kilns in Henan
province, including the Xiwangfeng and Encun kilns in
Jiaozuo county, and the Dangyangyu kilns in Xiuwu county.
Vases made with this technique are rare, and even rarer are
those of this form and of such large size, although a meiping,
whose size is unpublished, modelled with a short neck and
galleried rim and attributed to the Jin dynasty (1115-1234),
in the Jinci Museum, Taiyuan, is illustrated in Liu Tao,
Dated Ceramics of the Song, Liao and Jin Periods, Beijing,
2004, pl. 3-30. Marbled vases of much smaller size include
a hu-shaped vase attributed to the Southern Song period
(1127-1279), included in Illustrated Catalogue Series. Chinese
Ceramics from the Museum Yamato Bunkakan Collection,
Nara, 1977, vol. 7, pl. 79; and a pear-shaped vase, attributed
to the Yuan dynasty, sold in these rooms, 16th May 2007,
lot 9.
The dating of this lot is consistent with the results of
thermoluminescence test, Oxford Authentication Ltd., no.
C106z41.

48 Buyers are liable to pay both the hammer price (as estimated above) and the buyer’s premium together with any applicable taxes and Artist’s Resale Right (which will depend on the individual circumstanc-
es). Refer to the Buying at Auction and VAT sections at the back of this catalogue for further information.