Page 24 - Chinese Works of Art Chritie's Mar. 22-23 2018

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A LONGQUAN CELADON TRIPOD CENSER The shape of this censer, based on that of the ancient bronze li, was
SOUTHERN SONG DYNASTY (1127-1279) produced from the Southern Song into the Yuan period for the domestic
as well as the export market. The numerous tripod censers retrieved from
The compressed body has three narrow fanges formed by slip beginning
the Sinan shipwreck provide evidence that this shape was much sought
at a slight molded ridge on the shoulder and trailing down each of the three
after in Japan, the original destination of the ship’s cargo, and where they
slightly splayed, conical legs, all below the cylindrical neck that rises to a
have since been widely collected.
fat, everted rim. The censer is covered overall with a soft sea-green glaze
of even tone that thins on the fanges and ends at the bottom of the legs to
expose the pale grey ware. The thick, translucent glaze is typical of this type of Southern Song
Longquan ware, as is the lack of any decoration other than the fanges.
5Ω in. (14 cm.) high, reticulated silver cover, gold-lacquered cover, A number of Longquan celadon censers of the same shape are published,
Japanese lacquered box and wood box including several in renowned museum collections. Examples in the Tokyo
National Museum and Percival David Foundation, London, are published
$50,000-70,000 in Oriental Ceramics, The World’s Great Collections, Tokyo, 1982, vol. 1,
no. 97, and vol. 6, no. 37, respectively. Others include the example by J.
Ayers, The Baur Collection: Chinese Ceramics, vol. I, Geneva, 1972, no.
PROVENANCE
Japanese private collection, Meiji-Taisho period (1868-1912). A99; and the National Palace Museum, Taiwan, included in the Illustrated
Catalogue of Sung Dynasty Porcelain, Taipei, 1974, no. 12. A larger example
(19.7 cm. diam.), found in 1991 in Jinyu village of Nanqiong, Suining city,
Sichuan province, is illustrated in Longquan Celadon: The Sichuan Museum
Collection, Macau, 1998, pp. 210-11, no. 83.
南宋 龍泉青釉鬲式爐

(another view)

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