Page 19 - Christie's, Important Chinese Works of Art December 2, 2015 HK

fig. 1
known for his skill in recreating ancient glaze types - such as that
seen on the current flask.
The shape of the current flask is very rare. A similarly shaped
octagonal flask dating to the Yongzheng reign, decorated in
underglaze blue with a design of geese on a river bank was sold
by Christie’s Hong Kong in December 2010 Lot 3051(fig. 1).
These rare octagonal flasks are an unusual variant of the circular
flattened flasks which appear in the Chinese ceramic repertoire in
a variety of forms.
Flattened circular flasks with handles joining the mouth of the
vessel to the shoulder on either side of the neck can be traced
back to the ancient world. One of the most famous versions of
this form, sometimes referred to as a ‘stirrup jar’, is the unglazed
pottery flask decorated with an octopus painted in dark brown,
which was found among the late Minoan artefacts at Palaikastro
on the island of Crete. The Minoan flask dates to about 1500
BC, and thus was contemporary with the Shang dynasty in China
(illustrated in Spyridon Marinatos and Max Hirmer, Crete and
Mycenae, Harry N. Abrams, New York, 1960, pl. 87). Essentially,
the Minoan flask, appears to have been made by luting two bowls
together rim-to-rim, and the foot of the bowl can be seen in
the area of the octopus’s eyes. Although somewhat less flattened
than some of the later vessels from various other cultures, early
pottery flasks such as the Minoan example must have been
their ancestors. Flattened circular flasks are also known to have
been found at Nineveh - this time with their handles on the
shoulders - dating to the Parthian period (150 BC-AD 250),
which is roughly contemporary with the Han dynasty in China.
A number of glazed pottery flasks of flattened circular form with
handles on either side of the neck are found among Sassanian
ceramics (AD 224-642). A green glazed earthenware pilgrim
flask from Šuš, dating to the Sassanian period (AD 224-642), is in
the collection of the Iran Bastan Museum, Teheran (illustrated in
The World’s Great Collections – Oriental Ceramics, Vol 4, Iran Bastan of the Palace Museum, Beijing, are illustrated in Gugong bowuyuan
Museum Teheran, Kodansha,Tokyo, 1981, black and white plate no.
101). This flask has flat encircling strip sides forming a relatively
sharp junction with the front and back circular panels, which are
noticeably domed, similar to the form of the current Yongzheng
flask, but without the octagonal profile. The handles on the
Sassanian flask are on the shoulders, either side of the neck, rather
than joining neck to shoulder.
It is likely that the shape with encircling strip sides came to the
notice of Chinese craftsmen through glass vessels imported from
the Near East, possibly those similar to a green glass flask in the
Tareq Rajab Museum in Kuwait (illustrated on http://www.
trmkt.com/glassdetails.htm). This is a Syrian flask from the late
7th or early 8th century - contemporary with the Tang dynasty
in China, and was made of mould-blown and cut glass. A vessel
of identical form was found in an excavation at Tarsus in south-
eastern Anatolia in the 1930s, in a context with Umayyad and
early Abbasid pottery. The handles attach only to the lower
part of the neck of this vessel, but it is of particular interest
because it stands on a distinct foot, unlike the majority of the
early vessels in circular form, which appear footless. One of the
earliest example of a ceramic version of the side-strip form to
be found in China is a Liao (AD 916-1125) green-glazed flask
excavated in Inner Mongolia in 1965 (illustrated in Zhongguo
wenwu jinghua daquan - taoci juan, Taipei, 1993, p. 164, no. 560).
This vessel stands on a small foot and has six loops on the sides
to hold a carrying strap in place, suggesting that it was to be
hung – perhaps from a saddle.
In the Yongle (1403-24) reign large flasks with strip sides were
made at Jingdezhen and decorated in underglaze cobalt blue.
These flasks had flat, unglazed backs, and domed fronts with a
raised central boss. They also had ring handles on the shoulders,
ostensibly for the attachment of carrying straps – although the
weight would have been too great to rely on porcelain rings. Two
of these flat-backed Yongle flasks from the Qing court collection
cang – Ming chu qinghua ci, vol. 1, Beijing, 2002, pp. 70-1, nos.
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