Page 128 - Bonhams Wen Tang Collectiont, October 2014 Hong Kong

158 ‘Inverted’ vessels with immovable covers that are filled through the
bottom are extremely rare from the Song period. While examples from
A very rare guan-marked Dingyao moulded ewer Yaozhou kilns are known, no Dingyao example appears to have been
and fixed cover, daozhuanghu published.
Northern Song Dynasty
A Yaozhou ‘inverted’ pot, in the Historical Museum of Shaanxi, Xi’an,
Of compressed globular form, raised on a short spreading foot, the with deeply carved lotus decoration, a mythical beast spout and
body moulded with a band of lotus lappets below a band of petals phoenix handle, is illustrated by Robert L. Thor and Richard Ellis
on the shoulder, with a short curved spout and ‘C’-shaped handle Vinograd, Chinese Art and Culture New York, 2001, p.235, no.7-
flanking the sides, the fixed cover surmounted by a finial formed by a 9. Wares of this type were produced using moulds that allowed for
small gnarled branch with three flowers, the ewer being filled from the consistency of design and large-scale production. The vessel was
base incised with the character guan. cleverly designed to be used when inverted, filled through a hole in
15cm wide the base, and with a tube on the inside that serves as a stopper when
the vessel is upright. Compare also with a Northern Song Dynasty
HK$800,000 - 1,200,000 Yaozhou carved ‘inverted’ or ‘puzzle’ ewer, sold at Sotheby’s New
US$100,000 - 150,000 York, 18 September 2007, lot 242.

北宋 定窯「官」字款蓮瓣紋倒裝壺

The Ding kilns mostly fired high-quality white porcelain, using highly
refined clay. The wares produced were therefore thin, but durable, pure
white and smooth. The inscribed ‘Guan’ or ‘official’ character on the
base of Dingyao wares was a mark of the high level of craftsmanship
and possibly refers to a system of official Government kilns. A Dingyao
foliate rimmed bowl, also inscribed with a guan mark to the base,
dated Five Dynasties to Song Dynasty, in the National Palace Museum,
Taipei, is illustrated in Decorated Porcelains of Dingzhou, White Ding
wares from the Collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei,
2013, p.37, no.I-18. Such wares with the ‘guan’ character, including
the present lot, are of superb quality with a spotless white and creamy
glaze.

The result of Oxford Authentication Ltd. thermoluminescence test
no.P111p47 is consistent with the dating of this lot.

126 | Bonhams