Page 91 - Sothebys Important Chinese Art London May 2018

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A RARE ‘LONGQUAN’ CELADON VASE,
CONG
SOUTHERN SONG DYNASTY
modelled after an archaic jade cong, each long edge of the
square-sectioned body with eight raised horizontal bands
within a raised rectangular frame, all supported on a short foot
and surmounted by a gently tapered neck, covered overall
save for the footring with a lustrous celadon glaze draining to
pale bluish-white at the raised edges and pooling to sea-green
at the recessed areas
25.8 cm, 10⅛ in.
PROVENANCE
A Japanese private collection, (by repute).
Celadon vases of this form imitate archaic ritual jade objects in
shape and colour and represent one of the most characteristic
types of Song ceramics. The form derives from jade cong,
which are not shaped as containers but as open tubes, and are
known particularly from the Neolithic Liangzhu culture. A Þ ne
example from the Shanghai Museum, Shanghai, was included
in the exhibition Gems of Liangzhu Culture, Hong Kong
Museum of History, Hong Kong, 1992, cat. no. 57.
Several cong vases can be seen in famous collections
throughout the world; one in the Shanghai Museum is
illustrated in Longquan qingci [Celadon of Longquan], Beijing,
1966, pl. 15; one is published in the Illustrated Catalogue of
Sung Dynasty Porcelain in the National Palace Museum. Lung-
ch’uan Ware, Ko Ware and Other Wares, Tokyo, 1974, pls 8
and 9; another from the Eumorfopoulus Collection and now
in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, is included in
John Ayers, Far Eastern Ceramics in the Victoria and Albert
Museum, London, 1980, pl. 124; and a fourth example from the
Oppenheim Collection and now in the British Museum, London,
is published in Jessica Rawson, ed., The British Museum Book
of Chinese Art, London, 1992, pl. 8 left.
Compare also a vase of this type, from the Toguri Collection,
sold in our London rooms, 9th June 2004, lot 53; and another
from the Baron Hatvany Collection, included in the exhibition
Song Ceramics, Southeast Asian Ceramic Society, Singapore,
1983, cat. no. 36, and sold in our London rooms, 5th November
1996, lot 605.
ಳ £ 40,000-60,000
HK$ 442,000-665,000 US$ 56,500-84,500

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IMPORTANT CHINESE ART 89