Page 54 - Christie's Fine Chinese Paintings March 19 2019 Auction

The impressive size of the present Longquan celadon vase, and others like The present vase, with its monumental size, elegant shape, carved peony
it, would have made them appropriate for display purposes in a large hall or scroll decoration and fne, translucent sea-green glaze is very similar to
temple. the well-known Longquan celadon ‘phoenix-tail’ vase in the Percival David
Collection, currently on loan to the British Museum (Fig.1). What makes the
Although the Longuan celadon glaze was perfected during the Southern David vase unique is the dated inscription incised under the glaze around the
Song period (1127-1279), it was during the Yuan dynasty that production rim of the mouth, which may be translated:
increased, with some 300 kilns active in the Longquan area from the Dayao,
Jincun and Xikou kiln complexes in the west to those on the Ou and Songxi “Zhang Jincheng of the village of Wan’an at Liu mountain by the Jian river
rivers. These rivers facilitated the transportation and distribution of the in Guacang, a humble disciple of the Precious Trinity [of Buddhism], has
ceramics to other parts of China as well as to the ports of Quanzhou and made a pair of large fower vases to be placed before the Buddha in the
Wenzhou, for shipment abroad. During this period, new shapes and styles Great Dharma Hall at Juelin Temple, with [pledges for] eternal support and
of decoration were introduced, as well as vessels of impressive size. These prayers for the blessings of good fortune and peace for his family and home.
included large dishes or chargers which appealed to the patrons of Western Respectfully inscribed on an auspicious day in the eighth month of dingmao,
Asia, and large vases, such as the ‘phoenix-tail’ vases and large covered jars, the fourth year of the Taiding period [AD 1327].”
which were appreciated by patrons in West and East Asia, especially Japan.
Large Longquan celadon vases are still found in some temples in Japan On both the present vase and the David vase, the decoration is carved in
including the Shomyo-ji, Engaku-ji and Kencho-ji temples, where they have relief, as opposed to the other popular method of decoration used at the time,
been preserved since the Kamakura (1185-1333) and Muromachi (1333-1573) that of “sprig” molding, where the decoration was molded separately and
periods. Similar vases were also found in the cargo of the Sinan wreck, which then applied to the surface before glazing. ‘Phoenix-tail’ vases of comparable
was on its way from Ningbo to Japan in 1323, when the ship foundered of large size with this latter type of decoration include one (72 cm.) in the Qing
the coast of Korea. See R. Scott, Imperial Taste: Chinese Ceramics from the Court collection illustrated in The Complete Treasures of the Palace Museum
Percival David Foundation, Los Angeles, 1989, pp. 50-51, no. 24. - 37 - Monochrome Porcelain, Hong Kong, 1999, pp. 184-85, pl. 167; and
another (72.4 cm.) in the City Art Museum, St. Louis, illustrated by Sherman

52