Page 18 - SOTHEBYS MARCH 18 AND 19 2025

Glowing with a captivating palette of vibrant pinks and royal Early depictions of these grand pots in court paintings
purples, the present lot is a rare example of the much- further support this imperial attribution. Compare a bulb
coveted ‘numbered Jun’ wares and a testament to the bowl of this ‘official’ style, depicted in the anonymous
artistic vision and sheer opulence of the early Ming court. hanging scroll The Eighteen Scholars, attributed to
the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), in the National Palace
Beloved by emperors and collectors alike, the term ‘Jun’ Museum, Taipei, included in the Museum’s exhibition
remains shrouded in mystery. Traditionally grouped among The Enchanting Splendor of Vases and Planters: A
the ‘Five Famous Wares’ of the Song dynasty, Jun pieces Special Exhibition of Flower Vessels from the Ming and
are typified by their thick sumptuous glazes of dazzling Qing Dynasties, Taipei, 2014, p. 39 (top); and a barbed
opalescent tone. Unlike other traditional glazes of their jardinière painted in the anonymous handscroll Elegant
time, the color of Jun wares relies not only on the iron oxide Gathering in the Apricot Garden from 1437, which
pigments found in the glaze itself but also on microscopic depicts the court official Yang Rong (1371-1440) during a
bubbles of lime-rich glass formed in the intense reduction gathering of scholars at his home in Beijing. The painting,
firing process. Scattering blue light and producing an now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, was
enchanting purple tone, this bubbled glaze has continued to included in the seminal Ming exhibition at the British
be reproduced for centuries in a variety of kiln sites across Museum, op. cit., cat. no. 164.
modern-day Henan, Hebei and Shanxi provinces.
To date, fourteen official Jun shapes have been identified,
Despite, or indeed because of, the widespread appeal each attested in a range of numbered sizes, including a
of these pieces, the term ‘Jun’ has been adopted by flowerpot of fluted zhadou (‘spitoon’) form, from which the
connoisseurs to describe a wide variety of opalescent present design appears to have been derived. Compare
wares. Quite distinct from the purple-splashed Jun wares a closely related zhadou flowerpot from the Poon Family
typically attributed to the Northern Song (960–1127) and Jin Collection, sold in our Hong Kong rooms for more than
(1115–1234) dynasties, the so-called ‘numbered’ or ‘official’ 10.2 million Hong Kong dollars, 16th October 2024, lot
Jun pieces of the early Ming represent a marked departure 808 (Fig. 1); and another from the celebrated Dane
in terms of quality, opulence and rarity. These wares, of a Collection of numbered Jun, now preserved the Harvard
particularly fine clay-body, are adorned with a dazzling thick Art Museums (accession. no. 1942.185.38). Although
glaze which seems to ripple across their smooth surface in perhaps initially ground down out of necessity as a result
‘worm tracks,’ and are inscribed at the base with numerals of an ill-fired neck, the understated rim and globular
from one to ten – apparently indicative of their relative form of the present lot has been similarly treasured as
size and corresponding stands. Unlike earlier wares, hand- a distinct and desirable style in its own right at least
thrown at a variety of sites for a broad consumer market, since the Qing dynasty. Compare two further examples
archaeological and textual evidence suggests that these of numbered Jun zhadou with reduced necks preserved
‘official’ pieces were likely cast en masse from molds at the in the National Palace Museum, Taipei in A Panorama of
famed Juntai kilns of Henan, from which all Jun wares derive Ceramics in the Collection of the National Palace Museum:
their name. With a marked consistency in quality and form Chün Ware, Taipei, 1999, pls 10 and 14; and another of
and no known examples found outside of a kiln site or Beijing lighter blue tone preserved in the Palace Museum, Beijing,
palace context, it seems highly likely that this group was illustrated in Selection of Jun Ware. The Palace Museum’s
produced directly for the Ming court. As Jessica Harrison- Collection and Archaeological Excavation, Beijing, 2013, pl.
Hall argues, given the method of construction using double 107; a fourth from the Walters Collection in S. W. Bushell,
molds did not exist until the early 15th century, it seems Oriental Ceramic Art, London, 1896, pl. XCIV; and a fifth
highly likely that these rare pieces were commissioned by from the Eumorfopolous Collection, illustrated in R. L.
the Yongle and Xuande emperors for the newly built Ming Hobson, The George Eumorfopoulos Collection. Catalogue
palaces in Beijing where they were displayed and admired of the Chinese, Corean and Persian Pottery and Porcelain,
throughout the ensuing centuries; see Ming. 50 Years That vol. III, London, 1926, cat. no. C3, pl. III.
Changed China, British Museum, London, 2014, pp 92-97.

32 SOTHEBY’S PROPERTY FROM CARNEGIE MUSEUM OF ART, SOLD TO BENEFIT THE ACQUISITION FUND 33