Page 78 - Sothebys Important Chinese Art London May 2018

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PROPERTY FROM AN IMPORTANT ASIAN PRIVATE illustrated in Mary Tregear, Song Ceramics, London, 1982,
COLLECTION pl. 286; another, from the Charles Russell and H.M. Knight
th
A RARE ‘LONGQUAN’ CELADON ‘DRAGON collections, was sold in these rooms, 12 July 1960, lot 147,
and again, 15 July 1980, lot 75; and a further example, from
th
AND BIRD’ JAR AND COVER Eskenazi, London, and illustrated in Julian Thompson, op.
SOUTHERN SONG DYNASTY cit., p. 61, Þ g. 1 left, was sold in these rooms, 8 November
th
2006, lot 53. Compare also a jar and cover in the Indianapolis
the tall ovoid body Þ nely potted with three ribs encircling the
upper body and supported on a ß ared foot, applied at the Museum of Art included in the exhibition Beauty and
shoulder in high relief with a powerful dragon with long sinuous Tranquillity: the Eli Lilly Collection of Chinese Art, Indianapolis
Museum of Art, Indianapolis, 1983, pl. 78; another of similar
body coiled around the sides in pursuit of a ‘ß aming pearl’,
size and with a domed cover surmounted by a bird Þ nial, from
poised with mighty paws set with outstretched talons gripped
to the surface, set with ferocious gaping jaws, bulbous eyes the collection of Warren E. Cox, included in the exhibition
and long horns, the body carved with scale pattern and ß aming Chinese Ceramics in Chicago Collections, Mary and Leigh Block
Museum of Art, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois,
mane, the domed cover surmounted by a bird-form Þ nial,
1982, p. 35, cat. no. 19, sold twice in our New York rooms, 24
th
covered all over in an even celadon-green glaze, the unglazed
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footring and mouth rim burnt russet-brown in the Þ ring May 1944, lot 53, and again, 19 March 2007, lot 138; and a
(2) third example, from the Carl Kempe collection, sold in these
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rooms, 14 may 2008, lot 312.
27.2 cm, 10¾ in.
It is thought that funerary jars of this type were made in pairs,
PROVENANCE
one bearing the ‘Green Dragon’ of the East and the other the
Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 21st May 1985, lot 73. ‘White Tiger’ of the West. A pair from the Sir Percival David
Sotheby’s London, 12th November, 2003, lot 79. collection and now in the British Museum, London, is published
in Margaret Medley, Illustrated Catalogue of Celadon Wares,
EXHIBITED
London, 1977, pl. IV, no. 36, where she notes that these jars
Selected Treasures of Chinese Art, Min Chiu Society Thirtieth may have been Þ lled with aromatic oils.
Anniversary Exhibition, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong,
1990-91, cat. no. 112. ಴ £ 60,000-80,000
Song Ceramics from the Kwan Collection, Hong Kong Museum HK$ 665,000-885,000 US$ 84,500-113,000
of Art, Hong Kong, 1994, cat. no. 57.
Funerary jars of this type are described by Julian Thompson in
ی҂ Ꮂݰ㜺ڡཊ෧Ꮂ७ႊᜦ
‘Chinese Celadons’, Arts of Asia, November-December, 1993,
p. 62, as belonging to the Þ nest Longquan celadon vessels Ը๕
recorded. The glaze of the present jar is a thick lustrous bluish
࠰ಥᘽబˢ ϋ ˜ ˚d ᇜ໮
green, often referred to as the kinuta glaze by the Japanese
ࡐ౱ᘽబˢ ϋ ˜ ˚d ᇜ໮
who were especially fond of these wares. Kinuta wares are
considered as masterpieces of the Longquan potter, who ࢝ᚎ
prepared the perfect glaze executed masterful knowledge and ዝ˾˖يയޜjઽӋၚٸɧɤ඄ϋߏׂ࢝‘d ࠰ಥᖵஔ᎜d ࠰ಥd
skill over his kiln.
ϋd ᇜ໮
A related jar and cover, from the Avery Brundage collection ᗫˤהᔛ҂˾ௗନ‘d ࠰ಥᖵஔ᎜d ࠰ಥd ϋd ᇜ໮
in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, San Francisco, is

76 SOTHEBY’S