Page 74 - Sotheby's Junkunc Collection March 2019

115 A BLUE-SPLASHED POTTERY JAR AND COVER
TANG DYNASTY
唐 藍彩蓋罐

of slightly compressed ovoid form, the rounded sides tapering to a short splayed foot, and rising to an everted lipped rim, the
buff pinkish body covered by a thin layer of white slip around the neck and side, with irregular splashes of vibrant cobalt blue
glaze cascading in painterly drips from the rim stopping just above the foot, against a pale yellow straw glaze suffused with
a fine network of crackles, the domed cover similarly decorated with horizontal streaks of greenish-blue against a lustrous
straw-glazed ground (2)

Height 8 ¼ in., 20.9 cm
$ 10,000-15,000

PROVENANCE 來源
William H. Wolff, 10th October 1960. William H. Wolff，1960年10月10日
Collection of Stephen Junkunc, III (d.1978). 史蒂芬•瓊肯三世（1978年逝）收藏

One of the outstanding characteristics of Tang dynasty ceramic art is the bold application of vivid colored glazes
on a pale or white ground. The present jar epitomizes this in a remarkably minimalist yet striking manner, with the
painterly, abstract splashes of cobalt blue contrasting pleasingly against the ground of white slip and straw-colored
glaze. This striking pattern highlights the piece’s undulating profile, exemplifying the swelling forms and dynamic
contours. Although Tang dynasty art borrows much from foreign sources, the present shape is considered to be
wholly native.

An example of this type is illustrated in Geng Baochang, Zhongguo wenwu jinghua daquan [Compendium of Chinese
Art- Porcelain], Taipei, 1993, pl. 433. Compare two sold in these rooms; the first 1st June 1972, lot 47, and the second
with a double ring incised on the shoulder, sold 22nd September 2005, lot 285. See also a jar and cover sold at
Christie’s London, 11th July 2006, lot 100. A related jar, without the cover, is also in the collection of the Harvard Art
Museums, Cambridge, acc. no. 2006.170.264.

本品蓋罐，器形素雅，造形獨特，繪藍彩斑紋，豪放灑 參考一相類例，圖載於耿寶昌，《中國文物精華大全：陶
脫，如潑墨灑彩，紋飾遍施全器，亮麗奪目，尤顯起伏輪 瓷卷》，台北，1993年，編號433。兩例售於紐約蘇富
廓，展現唐陶圓渾造形與明暢流線。唐代工藝雖多有借鑒 比：一件售於1972年6月1日，編號47；另一件罐肩刻雙
外邦，本品造形卻應屬本土原創。 環，售於2005年9月22日，編號285。另見蓋罐一例，
售於倫敦佳士得2006年7月11日，編號100。類似罐器
一例，無蓋，現藏於哈佛藝術博物館，劍橋，館藏編號
2006.170.264。

72 JUNKUNC: ARTS OF ANCIENT CHINA