Page 38 - Chiense works of art sothebys march 14 2017 nyc

The simplicity of this vase, from the minimalist form and subtle 2002 122
translucent glaze, conceals the mastery involved in creating
such a piece. The pro ciency required in understanding the 2003 192
chemical compositions and the ring of such monochrome
vessels is re ected in the saying, ‘Nine failures for ten charged 1976 11
kilns’. The delicate, almost watery, tone of celadon is a Kangxi
innovation which was produced by lessening the amount of 29 524 1989 5 16
iron typically found in Song dynasty Longquan celadons. This
glaze was further modi ed during the Yongzheng period to the 60 1985 6

nely textured bluish tone as seen on the present vase. 4 34 Y Laurell Doris Duke

A closely related example, in the National Palace Museum, 2004 9 21 310
Taipei, was included in the Museum’s exhibition, Empty
Vessels, Replenished Minds: The Culture, Practice and Art of 2 2005
Tea, Taipei, 2002, cat. no. 122, where it is catalogued as a
tea caddy; and another from the Nanjing Museum, Nanjing, 166 Angela Ciccio Schirone
is published in The O cial Kiln Porcelain of the Chinese Qing
Dynasty, Shanghai, 2003, p. 192. Vases of this type but 2014 3 18 19 451
with cylindrical covers, include a pair sold in our Hong Kong
rooms, 29th November 1976, lot 524, and again in our London
rooms, 16th May 1989, lot 60; another pair, from the J.M. Hu
collection, sold in these rooms, 4th June 1985, lot 34; and a
third pair, from the collections of Y. Laurell and Doris Duke,
sold at Christie’s New York, 21st September 2004, lot 310.
Compare also vases of related form, but with short straight
necks and lacking a cover, such as one, in the Palace Museum,
Beijing, included in Gugong bowuyuan cang gu taoci ciliao
xuanci [Selection of ancient ceramic material from the Palace
Museum], vol. 2, Beijing, 2005, pl. 166; and another, from
the estate of Angela Ciccio Schirone, sold in these rooms,
18th/19th March 2014, lot 451.

Celadon-glazed ceramics were appreciated by the court and
connoisseurs from as early as the Tang dynasty, when the
writer Lu Yu (733-804) noted in his Cha jing (Tea Classic) that
Yue ware celadon bowls were the best from which to drink

ne tea. The great development of Longquan celadon in the
Song dynasty continued into the early Ming dynasty, where
celadon glaze was applied to a small group of porcelain vessels
produced in Jingdezhen. However, it was during the early Qing
dynasty under the Kangxi Emperor that the glaze was re ned
and the Yongzheng reign that celadon glazes were made in
many variations. Several di erent celadon types are recorded
in the list of porcelains produced by the imperial kilns, which
was composed in 1735 by the brilliant, innovative supervisor
of the imperial factory, Tang Ying (1682-1756). He studied in
detail the nest antique ceramics of the Song (960-1279) and
Ming dynasties to understand the workmanship and physical
qualities, and then applied this knowledge to better redesign
and produce modern versions inspired by the antiques.

36 SOTHEBY’S