Page 11 - Bonhams Wen Tang Collectiont, October 2014 Hong Kong

examples from a number of kilns are included in the sale. All
across northern China potters made black-glazed wares, for
they provided easily-produced and durable household utensils.
In spite of their often humble destinations, they bore attractive warmed to blood-heat during the Song period, deep bowls
and striking glazes giving oil-spot, streaks and speckled
effects, or had contrasting white rims, while grander pieces
even had cut-gold decoration. These northern blackwares
were closely allied with Cizhou ceramics, also made at a huge
number of northern kilns. Cizhou took decoration one step
further, cutting through the glaze to create dramatic patterns,
or painting bold designs.
In the southern province of Fujian, prodigious numbers of
black teawares were turned out in a single firing, in climbing
“dragon kilns” that were over 100 metres long. Jian wares
have a thick, dark body suitable for keeping tea warm, and
attractive glazes embellished with markings such as silvery
“hare’s fur”. The best Jian wares were sent to court, and
they also enjoyed a local market, where people admired the
effect of drinking local green teas in very dark bowls. Because
Fujian province is on the southeast coast it had close links
with Japan, and many Japanese Buddhist monks travelled to
monasteries in the scenic Tianmu mountains. They took home
with them black Jian teabowls, called “temmoku” in Japan.7
The collection contains an extraordinary array of two “popular”
wares from Jiangxi province, Jizhou and Qingbai. Jizhouhas
long been the “Cinderella sister” of ceramic studies, for
since the Benjiesi kiln was excavated in 1980 archaeological
work has been less well resourced than that carried out at
better-known kilns in other regions. A new programme of
archaeology is underway, so we may hope to gain further
understanding in coming years. We do know that the kiln
employed a wide array of designs, including green and yellow
lead glazes, black and white slip trailed and splashed to make
bold abstract designs and painted to simulate guri lacquer,
and used to encloseresist decorations. A highlight of this resist
technique involved the use of papercuts, and leaves that burnt
off leaving even the most delicate veins to be seen.8
Qingbai porcelain from Jingdezhen is much better known,
for it was manufactured in vast quantities, and a good deal
of excavation has been carried out. One major kilnarea was
Hutian, a short distance south of the city. There potters
specialised in ceramic figurines, small boxes for cosmetics
and sealpaste, delicate cups, bowls and dishes, vases, and a
range of wine ewers. Because alcohol was typically consumed
were produced to stand the ewers in hot water. Many
paintings and murals of the time show congenial drinking
parties supplied with ewers-in-basins, and elegant wine
cups and bowls. Often Hutian wares were humorous in their
depiction of people and beasts, emphasising the clear blue-
white glaze with iron brown details.
The Mongol Yuan dynasty was a period of experimentation in
ceramics, brought about by the disruption to traditional internal
markets and an expanding export trade. Both destinations
were served by the huge kiln complexes at Longquan in
southern Zhejiang province, that had begun operations during
the Song dynasty, but expanded hugely during the Yuan.
Large Longquan vessels suited to Middle Eastern dining
requirements are found across the region, the most famous
conglomeration being that assembled in the kitchens of the
Topkapi Seray in Istanbul.9 Smaller Longquan vessels were
traded throughout East and Southeast Asia, while the most
refined wares were kept for the home market.
Thus it can be seen that Chinese ceramics played an
important economic and social role in China, a role that
is exemplified by the types and range of ceramics in this
collection.
1 Rose Kerr (ed) and Nigel Wood, Ceramic Technology. Science and Civilisation
in China, volume V, part 12 (Cambridge University Press, 2004), pp.348-349.
2 Nigel Wood, Chinese Glazes. Their Origins, Chemistry and Recreation (A&C
Black, 1999), pp.160-162.
3 Yutaka Mino and Katherine R. Tsiang, Ice and Green Clouds. Traditions of
Chinese Celadon (Indianapolis University Press, 1986), pp.108-111.
4 Jessica Rawson, “Chinese Silver and Its Influence On Porcelain Development”
in Patrick E. McGovern, Michael D. Notis& W. David Kingery (eds.),Cross-
craft and Cross-cultural Interactions in Ceramics: Ceramics and Civilization,
Vol. IV(The American Ceramic Society, 1989), pp. 275-299.
5 Rose Kerr, Song Through 21st Century Eyes. Yaozhou and Qingbai Ceramics
今之視昔宋代耀洲窯及清白瓷 (Meijering Art Books, 2009), pp.16-23.
6 For detailed references see Kerr and Wood,op.cit., p. 530.
7 Rose Kerr, Song Dynasty Ceramics (V&A Publications, 2004), pp.112-117.
8 Ibid.,pp.106-112.
9 John Ayers (ed.) and Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics in the TopkapiSaray
Museum Istanbul. A Complete Catalogue, volume 1 ( Philip Wilson, 1986)
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