Page 162 - Christie's Asia Week March 2024 Chinese Art

IMPORTANT CHINESE ART INCLUDING THE COLLECTION OF DOROTHY TAPPER GOLDMAN 重要中४藝術暨高曼珍藏

The extraordinary effect of this glaze is achieved by applying an
opaque stippled turquoise glaze colored with copper and made opaque
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by mixing the arsenic as an opacifier. Rose Kerr noted in Chinese Bonsai arrived in Japan in the 8 century and the style of Bonsai today in a 1957 auction organized by the Tokyo Bonsai Club of over four-
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Ceramics, Porcelain of the Qing dynasty, London, 1986, p. 88, that was formed around the 13 century. Bonsai was first practiced and hundred Bonsai wares from an anonymous Japanese family collection.
while visual examination reveals there to be two distinctive types of appreciated by Buddhist monks, the aristocracy, and the samurai, but by It was then passed down through collectors and connoisseurs to the
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robin’s-egg glaze, one streaked with copper-red and the other stippled the 18 -19 centuries, became a popular pursuit for the Japanese people. present owner, Nobuyoshi Ikeda. Ikeda has been a bonsai practitioner
with blotches of turquoise and dark blue, further analysis is required The highest quality Bonsai have been regarded as unique collectors’ for 35 years, winning first prize four times in the Kokufu Bonsai
to clarify the chemistry of these glazes. The robin’s-egg glaze was a items since the Meiji period, and have been appreciated by renowned ten, the oldest and most prestigious bonsai contest in Japan. Ikeda
monochrome glaze first invented in the Yongzheng reign. The peacock- Japanese connoisseurs of art such as Iwasaki Yanosuke, Nezu Kaichiro possesses many bonsai, including one registered as kicho bonsai, a title
feather glaze appears to be closely related to the more common robin’s- and Nakano Chutaro. given by the Nippon Bonsai Association in order to preserve bonsai of
egg glaze, but the former is much rarer, possibly due to the difficulty in exquisite aesthetic value and academic importance. Since acquiring the
successfully achieving its desired effect. After the Xinhai Revolution of 1911, a number of Chinese Yixing wares present jardinière, Ikeda has appreciated it both as an important work
were imported into Japan to be used as bonsai pots. The present of art from the Qing imperial kilns as well as for its subtle beauty and
Peacock feather-glazed jardinières of this exact form are very rare. The jardinière likely came to Japan during this period, and was later sold historical importance in both China and Japan.
closest example is the Yongzheng-marked celadon-glazed example of
comparable size (22.8 cm. long) with plain sides and ruyi-bracket feet,
in the Wang Xing Lou Collection, illustrated in Imperial Perfection, The
Palace Porcelain of Three Chinese Emperors: Kangxi - Yongzheng -
Qianlong, Hong Kong, 2004, pp. 182-83, no. 67, where it is noted that
shallow jardinières or penjing (pot landscapes) of this type "were used
for miniature gardens or single bonsai trees", which were popular in the
Qing palace. Two other celadon-glazed examples of larger size have
been published: one (46.2 cm.) that has plain sides and no feet was sold
at Christie's Hong Kong, 27 May 2009, lot 1889; and the other (37.3
cm.), raised on three pairs of bracket feet, is illustrated in Qing Imperial
Monochromes: The Zande Lou Collection, Shanghai, 2005, pp. 60-61,
no. 13.

For an example of a robin’s egg-glazed jardinière of round lobed form,
see an example illustrated in Treasures from Japan: Masterpieces of
Chinese Ceramics from Yamanaka & Co., Ltd. and other Japanese
Collections, Beijing, 2019, p. 107, no. 107. The inspiration for the shape
of the present and Wang Xing Lou jardinières may have been Song
dynasty prototypes, such as the rectangular Jun example in the Qing
Court Collection, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures
Nobuyoshi Ikeda, photographed in his garden with a bonsai tree that is reputedly 1500- of the Palace Museum - 32 - Porcelain of the Song Dynasty (I), Hong
2000 years old.
池田П良，攝於Ւ庭७中，與ˏ盆☼有 年歷史ⅲ盆栽樹合影ǐ Kong 1996, p. 23, pl. 19, which also has an everted rim and is raised on
ruyi feet.
Property from the Collection of Nobuyoshi Ikeda While the present vessel was originally made in the imperial kilns and
ⱷ964 intended to function as a jardinière, it has been appreciated among
Bonsai connoisseurs since its entry into Japan in the mid-twentieth
A RARE 'PEACOCK FEATHER'-GLAZED century.
RECTANGULAR JARDINIÈRE
YONGZHENG IMPRESSED SEAL MARK AND OF THE PERIOD (1723-1735) The cultivation of bonsai, (literally ‘tree planted in a dish’) began in
10w in. (27.7 cm.) wide, Japanese wood box China more than 2,000 years ago. Gardeners of the Han dynasty (206
BC-AD 220) replicated real landscapes in miniature, introducing trees,
$60,000-80,000
rocky outcrops, rivers and even tiny houses into compositions placed
PROVENANCE: in shallow dishes. This branch of art is known as penjing and from
Private collection, Tokyo, prior to 1957. it developed the more refined art of bonsai, where an individual tree
Anonymous family collection, Tokyo; Bonsai Daiuritate-kai (Important Bonsai becomes the focus of the horticulturist’s efforts. Miniature cypresses,
Auction), 18 February 1957, no. 32. plum trees, pines and even bamboos are depicted growing in trays in
paintings dating from the Tang Dynasty in the 7 century AD.
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LITERATURE:
Nihon Bonsai Kyudokumiai Soritsu 20 shunen Kinen Shuppann, Bijutsu Bonki
Meihin Taisei, Bijutsu Bonki Meihin Taisei, Chugoku, Kyoto, 1990, p. 156, no.
441.
池田П良珍藏
清雍正 爐鈞孔雀羽毛釉長方花盆 Ս字篆書印款
Ϝ源
東̺私́珍藏，1957年ע
東̺私́家族珍藏；ǗBonsai Daiuritate kaiǘ，1957年2月18日，編號 32
֨ḛ
ǗNihon Bonsai Kyudokumiai Soritsu 20 shunen Kinen Shuppann, Bijutsu Bonki
(mark)
Meihin Taisei, Bijutsu Bonki Meihin Taisei, Chugokuǘ，̺都，1990年，頁156，
編號441
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