Page 14 - Bonhams, FIne Chinese Art, Linda Wrigglesworth Collection, May 13, 2021 London

Tomb fresco, Yuan dynasty, in The World of Khubilai Khan. Chinese Art in the Yuan Dynasty, New York, 2010,
p.82, fig.35.

The present lot would have probably served to mix wine before pouring Spouted yi vessels were known in China from at least the 4th/3th
it into cups for drinking. Archaeological excavations have revealed that century AD. See, for example, a bronze vessel, yi, excavated from
these bowls were often used in conjunction with yuhuchunping vases a Warring State Chu tomb in Baoshan, Hubei Province, illustrated
and wine cups; see Chiumei Ho, ‘Social Life Under the Mongols as in Baoshan Chu Mu (Chu tomb in Baoshan), vol.2, Beijing, pl.24:1,
Seen in Ceramics’, in Transactions of the Oriental Ceramic Society, pp.320-321. See also a silver spouted yi, Warring States, illustrated by
vol.59, London, 1994-1995, p.44. The same combination of yi bowls M.Loehr, Relics of Ancient China, New York, 1976, p.100, no.73.
and yuhuchunping is also depicted in a wall painting in the tomb of
Zhang Zhongying, dated to 1333 AD, illustrated in The Metropolitan With their conquest of China, the Mongols inherited a flourishing
Museum of Art, The World of Khubilai Khan. Chinese Art in the Yuan ceramic tradition at the kilns in Jingdezhen, and it was under their
Dynasty, New York, 2010, p.83, fig.115. rule that large numbers of blue and white porcelain wares shaped
after metal prototypes were produced. See, for example, a porcelain
The shape of the present vessel probably derived from a metal pouring vessel, yi, Yuan dynasty, of similar shape to the present
prototype fitted with a small loop beneath the spout, which may have example and also decorated with a hare in the well, in the British
been used to hang the bowl from the belt of Mongol horsemen, who Museum, London, illustrated by J.Harrison-Hall, Ming Ceramics in the
were known for suspending weapons and other necessities from their British Museum, London, 2001, p.69, fig.1:21. See also two Longquan
waist; for an example of a related silver pouring vessel fitted with a celodon-glazed vessel, yi, Yuan dynasty, in the National Palace
loop, Yuan dynasty, see H.Kinoshita, Art of China. Highlights from the Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Green: Longquan Celadon of the Ming
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, 2018, p.82. Dynasty, Taipei, 2009, nos.2 and 3.

See another related silver spouted bowl, Yuan dynasty, early 14th Represented mythologically as an inhabitant of the moon, the hare
century, in the William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art, Kansas City, symbolises longevity and is often depicted grinding the herbs of
illustrated by W.Watson and S.Jenyns, Chinese Art: Gold, Silver, Later Immortality in a mortar.
Bronzes, Cloisonné, Cantonese Enamel, Lacquer, Furniture, Wood,
Oxford, 1980, p.57, fig.34a.

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