Page 258 - Christies Fine Chinese Works of Art March 2016 New York

1536
A RARE SMALL LONGQUAN CELADON ‘BAMBOO’ VASE,
XIANWENPING
SOUTHERN SONG-YUAN DYNASTY, 12TH-14TH CENTURY
The compressed, spreading body is encircled by three rings, with
two more on the shoulder, and the tall neck is encircled by two
bow-string bands, in imitation of bamboo, below the wide, galleried
mouth with incurved rim, a section of which broke off during fring
and became adhered to the side of the neck. The vase is covered
overall with a glaze of slightly blue-green color ending just above the the range of 27 cm. tall, include two sold at Christie’s New York, one from
unglazed foot rim.
6æ in. (16.8 cm.) high, Japanese wood box
$40,000-60,000
PROVENANCE
Masuda Donou (1848-1938) Collection, Japan.
Takahashi Souan (1861-1937), Japan.
Japanese dealer’s auction of the Takahashi Family Collection, 1918.
The present vase illustrated in the Takahashi Family Collection auction (another view)
catalogue, Tokyo, Japan, April 5th, 1918.
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As with other vases of this form, the raised encircling rings at the junction of
the shoulder and neck, on the neck and one of the lower rings on the body,
disguise luting lines, and give this type of vase one of its Chinese names,
xianwenping (‘string pattern vase’).
The present vase is unusually small for a vase of this type. Taller versions
(approximately 31 cm. tall) are illustrated in The Complete Collection of
Treasures of the Palace Museum - 33 - Porcelain of the Song Dynasty (II),
Hong Kong, 1996, pl. 103; in Celadons from Longquan Kilns, Taipei, 1998,
p. 147, no. 114; and in Illustrated Catalogue of Celadon Wares in the Percival
David Foundation, rev. ed., 1997, pp. 19 and 30, no. 202. Similar vases, in
the Falk Collection, 20 September 2001, lot 119, the other 19-20 September
2013, lot 1276.
Vases of this type were much admired in Japan, both for their elegant form
and the beauty of their glaze. They were among the cargo of the Sinan
wreck, which foundered of the Sinan coast of Korea on its way to Japan
in AD 1323. See National Museum of Korea, Sinan Wreck Exhibition, Seoul,
1977, no. 15. One (29.8 cm.) in the Nezu Museum, Tokyo, is illustrated by
M. Tregear in Song Ceramics, New York, 1982, p. 172, pl. 232, as well as in
Sekai Toji Zenshu, vol. 12, Song, Tokyo, 1977, no. 81. The Nezu vase has been
designated by the Japanese authorities as an Important Cultural Property, an
indication of the respect with which such pieces are regarded. The present
vase, with its section of rim adhered to the neck during fring, also attests
to how highly valued vases of this type were, as it was not only saved after
fring, but was considered valuable enough to pass into various important
collections over the years.
南宋/元 龍泉青釉弦紋瓶