Page 230 - Bonhams Wen Tang Collectiont, October 2014 Hong Kong

204 This ewer is an example of an extremely rare group of Song period
‘inverted’ vessels that are filled through the bottom. While examples
A rare Qingbai ‘mythical beast’ globular ewer, from Yaozhou kilns are known, a Qingbai example does not appear to
daozhuanghu have been published.
Southern Song/Yuan Dynasty
A Yaozhou ‘inverted’ pot, in the Historical Museum of Shaanxi, Xi’an,
Potted with a compressed globular body raised on a stepped with deeply carved lotus decoration, a mythical beast spout and
spreading foot, decorated with lightly-incised swirls between phoenix handle, is illustrated by Robert L. Thor and Richard Ellis
moulded bands of chrysanthemum petals, the sides flanked with a Vinograd, Chinese Art and Culture New York, 2001, p.235, no.7-
curved dragon handle and a monster-mask spout, surmounted with 9. Wares of this type were produced using moulds that allowed for
a small mythical beast finial, covered overall in a pale greyish-blue consistency of design and large-scale production. The vessel was
glaze, the ewer intended to be filled from the base. cleverly designed to be used when inverted, filled through a hole in
15.5cm 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$150,000 - 200,000 Yaozhou carved ‘inverted’ or ‘puzzle’ ewer, sold at Sotheby’s New
US$19,000 - 26,000 York, 18 September 2007, lot 242.

南宋/元 青白釉刻花龍首倒裝壺 While the present lot appears to be unique in its form, the combination
of decorative techniques such as the sculpted lion finial and dragon
handle, the moulded lotus lappets and incised scrolls, appears on
other Southern Song Qingbai wares. For example, a vase and stand
modelled with dragons, lotus petals and incised with floral scrolls in the
Victoria and Albert Museum, London, is illustrated by Stacey Pierson,
Qingbai Ware: Chinese Porcelain of the Song and Yuan Dynasties,
London, 2002, p.140-141, no.73. Ewers with spouts modelled as
heads of chickens or mythical beasts and with mythical beast finials
are features that also appear on Qingbai wares.

The result of C-Link Research & Development Ltd.
thermoluminescence test no.5524ZB44 is consistent with the dating
of this lot.

壺身器蓋處塑一瑞獸俯臥，喇叭口底足，擺放沉穩，有曲流彎柄。在

流口與壺身間，均以枝葉裝飾。腹部上下兩端分別模印出棱一周。腹

中部刻劃裝飾。

倒 流壺因壺底中心有一通心管又稱內管壺，是始于宋、遼時期，流

行於清代的壺式之一。由於向壺內倒水需從底心管口倒入，又稱倒灌

壺、倒裝壺，耀州窯常見有燒 造，而影青瓷中則較為少見。與本壺

形制類似的青白壺例子，可見江西省博物館藏一件南宋鳳首壺，著錄

於Stacey Pierson著，《Qingbai Ware: Chinese Porcelain of the Song
and Yuan Dynasties》，倫敦，2002年，頁128-129，圖版66。另見
同著錄中一件南宋印花蓮紋瓶及座，亦是以蓮瓣及龍紋作為裝飾題

材，頁140-141，圖73。

此拍品經香港中科研發有限公司熱釋光年法測試（測試編號

5524ZB44），證實與本圖錄之定代符合。

228 | Bonhams