Page 72 - Bonhams Wen Tang Collectiont, October 2014 Hong Kong

129 The ornate applied decoration on this vase reflects an aesthetic
A magnificent and large olive-green-glazed
slender oviform vase and cover with applied
decoration
Northern Qi Dynasty
Raised on a waisted spreading foot encircled with a band of
overlapping lotus petals, the lower half of the ovoid body finely
decorated with slender chicken-headed columns below intricately
moulded roundels containing various motifs, including lotus blooms,
phoenix, dragons and flowers, all below two large lotus-lappet bands
in high relief, applied with three strap handles and interspersed with Northern Qi Period: A Flamboyant Chinese Ceramic Container, New
tiger heads and leafy sprays, the neck applied with monster-mask
roundels, cartouches containing Buddhas, and leafy floral medallions,
covered overall in a yellow-green glaze, the similarly-glazed domed
cover decorated with eight acanthus leaves radiating from the bud-
shaped finial.
65cm high (2).
Estimate on request
北齊 青釉貼花蓮花獸面風鳥花樽
Palace Museum, Beijing
北京故宮博物院
70 | Bonhams
strongly influenced by the Sassanian Persians and Central Asians.
During the 6th century, trade with countries to the West of China grew,
with many foreigners settling into Northern Chinese cities. Ceramics
found in Northern Qi tombs often display Sassanian or Khotanese-
style figures and motifs, including sprig-moulded stylised lotus blooms,
tasselled palmettes, imitations of cabochon jewels in beaded settings,
floral beaded medallions and monster masks. The appliqué decoration
in horizontal registers creates a more complex silhouette, an effect that
recalls the rich decoration of some Sassanian or Sogdian gold and
silver with figural and floral friezes in relief.
In her published research monograph, Cultural Convergence in the
York, 2007, Suzanne G. Valenstein discusses the decorative motifs
on Northern Qi vessels as an aesthetic that converged in China, but
had roots from early Eurasian nomads and numerous cultural centres
including Egypt, Greece, India, and other parts of Central Asia.
Valenstein discusses the history of various motifs that are typical on
Northern Qi wares like those on the present lot, including monster
masks, lotus petals, feline heads etc.
Compare with equally ornate related vases, one in the Nelson-Atkins
Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri, and another in the Ashmolean
Museum, Oxford, both illustrated in ibid, p.94 and 95, no.5 and
6. Both the Nelson-Atkins and Ashmolean examples are of similar
shape with very similar lotus lappets. A Northern Qi jar also with lotus
lappets, from the Tomb of Feng Shihui, Jing County, Hebei, now in the
National Museum of History, Beijing, is illustrated by Robert L. Thor
and Richard Ellis Vinograd, Chinese Art and Culture New York, 2001,
p.174, no.5-22. Another jar with comparable lotus lappets is in the
Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Ceramics Gallery of the Palace
Museum Part 1, Beijing, 2008, p.108-109, no.55. The waisted neck
of the Palace Museum vase is also decorated with dragons, but these
are less well defined than the motifs on the present lot.
The present lot is particularly distinguished by its exceptionally well
defined and finely moulded appliqué decoration. Each roundel above
the unusual chicken-headed columns contains a clearly visible intricate
motif of flowers or mythical creatures. The tiger heads, each of the
same size, are carefully incised with striped fur marks, and modelled
with tiny ears and beady eyes. The monster-masks on the neck are
crisply moulded, each detailed with a ferocious expression, large horns
and bulging cheeks. A related vase with very similar monster masks
and Buddhas to the current lot, was sold at Sotheby’s New York, 27
March 2003, lot 37.
The result of Oxford Authentication Ltd. thermoluminescence test
no.C109g14 is consistent with the dating of this lot.
瓶敞口，束頸，弧肩，鼓弧腹下收，喇叭口足部外撇。肩部對稱作鋬
耳系。器蓋隆起，中間作寶珠鈕。由口沿外壁至底足，瓶體採用堆
塑，貼塑等多種方式進行裝飾，獸面紋、覆蓮紋、鳳鳥紋等，每個紋
飾雕刻均一絲不苟，可圈可點。且瓶體高大，所用裝飾充滿了宗教意
味，通體綠釉，體型高大，裝飾華麗。