Page 96 - Lunyushanren Col II

The present bowl belongs to a group of Jun vessels comprising narcissus 洗斂口，淺壁鼓型，外一周凸起弦紋，平底，三雲頭足，外口沿下環列一
bowls, fower pots, and zun-shaped vases with prominent fanges, where 圈鼓釘紋十九枚，近底處環列鼓釘一圈十六枚。裡外施天藍釉，器裡釉面
each vessel has been incised or stamped with a Chinese numeral on the 有蚯蚓走泥紋。底刻「三」字款，並有精整的支釘痕。
base. The numbers range from one to ten, and according to the Nanyao
biji (Notes of the Nanyao), composed during the Qianlong reign, the 此器造型規整，做工考究，是陳設類鈞瓷中的一件佳作。陳設類鈞瓷概指
numbers are indications that pair specifc fower pots with stands. In 鈞窯瓷器中一類刻有數字款的花器，包括有出戟尊，各式花盆以及盆托。
recent years, scholars have also noted that the numbers appear to have an 陳設類鈞瓷的數字底款從「一」至「十」，不一而足。成書於乾隆年間的
indirectly proportional relationship with the sizes of the vessels, with ten 《南窯筆記》曾言：“有一二數目字樣於底足之間，蓋配合一副之記號
representing the smallest and one the largest. Jun narcissus bowls of this 也。”據此，數目字款乃用以指示花盆和盆托的配對。近年又有學者指出
group appear in three styles, and are traditionally catalogued as ‘brush 數字款與器物的大小有關，器底數字越小，器物尺寸越大，亦可備一說。
washers’, though the function of these bowls might well be stands of
fower pots. The frst has a circular mouth rim with drum-nail bosses on 此器形之鈞窯盆托形制可分為三類，舊稱為「洗」。其中一形如本品圓
the exterior, such as the present example. The second style has six-petal 歛口，外環鼓釘，稱為鼓釘洗。另有六瓣葵花形，如一「六」字款例
lobes, such as the ‘number nine’ example in the National Palace Museum, 子，2015年6月3日於香港佳士得拍賣，拍品3121號。最後一形為六瓣菱
illustrated in A Panorama of Ceramics in the Collection of the National Palace 花形，見臨宇山人舊藏一例，2015年12月2日於香港佳士得拍賣，拍品
Museum: Chun Ware, Taipei, 1999, p. 116-117, no. 41. And the third has 2812號。存世之「三」字款鼓釘洗極為罕見，拍賣市場上曾出現過兩例，
six molded bracket lobes at the fattened rim, such as the ‘number four’ 分別為Vivian Bulkeley-Johnson上尉，the Mount Trust舊藏，2011年
bowl, also from the Linyushanren Collection, sold at Christie’s 3月23日於紐約蘇富比拍賣，拍品514號以及2005年11月9日於倫敦蘇富
Hong Kong, 2 December 2015, lot 2812. 比拍賣一例，拍品277號。值得一提的是，設類鈞瓷收藏最豐富的兩岸故
宮博物院及哈佛大學藝術館的收藏序列中皆缺「三」字款鼓釘洗。
The present bowl appears to be one of the very few narcissus bowls of
drum-nail design that is also inscribed with the numeral ‘three’. One
example from the collection of Captain Vivian Bulkeley-Johnson, the
Mount Trust, was sold at Sotheby’s New York, 23 March 2011, lot
514; and a second example was sold at Sotheby’s London, 9 November
2005, lot 277. It is interesting to note that due to their rarity, ‘number
three’ examples are absent from several major institutions with very
comprehensive ‘numbered Jun’ collections, such as the Palace Museum,
Beijing, the National Palace Museum, Taipei, and the Harvard University
Art Museum.

For Jun bowls of similar form to the current example but with different
numerals, see the examples in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in
The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Porcelain of the
Song Dynasty (I), Hong Kong, 1996, pp. 28-33, nos. 24-28; as well as
further examples in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in A
Panorama of Ceramics in the Collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei,
Chun Ware, Taipei, 1999, pp. 88-107, nos. 27-36.

The Classic Age of Chinese Ceramics 古韻天成 — 臨宇山人珍藏（二） 94