Page 15 - Sotheby's Arcadian beauty Song Pottery Oct. 3, 2018

Arcady), a remote and secluded highland region of ancient A ceramic pot, a tray of lacquered
Greece, in the centre of the Peloponnese. He postulated the
basic harmony of man with nature there, as summed up by wood, a stone pebble, so obviously
E.V. Rieu (ed., Virgil. The Pastoral Poems, Harmandsworth,
Middlesex, 1967 [1949], p. 14): non-precious and humble, could
It was in his Arcady, the pastoral world of his memories become revered artefacts.
and of his fancy, that Virgil found the window which gave
him this vision of the truth, and sensed the spirit that
pulsates in everything that is, and makes a harmony of but they equally lent themselves to extreme sophistication.
man, tree, beast, and rock. Nature is fundamentally at one Naturally, the hands of master artisans were crucially
with man, though towns and politics and war make him important in this elevation; yet, there always remained a pinch
a refugee from her and from the truth. It is the shepherd of unpredictability that was particularly cherished: the rare,
and his sheep that are her nurslings and her confidants. It fortuitous outcome of a firing, for example, that seemed more
is they who comprehend, when the ‘woods … make music like a gift of nature than a man-made success. Song ceramics
and the pine-trees speak’. are among the few works of art, where differences between
good but ordinary works and outstanding masterpieces
In the Renaissance, Virgil’s notion of Arcadia was adapted and
can be very subtle and require connoisseurship to be fully
romanticised by Jacopo Sannazaro (1458-1530) in a pastoral
grasped. This relative evaluation of desirability of two basically
romance of that title, which suddenly made this utopia so
comparable pieces is as active
popular, that visions of an
today as it was in the Song, if
unspoiled idyllic landscape
not even more so (in the case
where herdsmen live the The outstanding craftsmanship
simple life close to nature, in of black Jian ware tea bowls of
Fujian, for example, the price of
unison with each other and of the finest works of art paired
their surroundings, sprang an exceptional specimen today
up everywhere, in poetry, with the severe minimalism can be 100,000 times that of a
prose, theatre and painting. basic piece).
Unlike in China, however, that characterizes their designs As many Song vessels are
they remained pastoral gives Song artefacts a timeless, deceptively plain, discernment
phantasies and had few of quality requires close study
repercussions directly into ‘contemporary’ feel that has and some degree of knowledge,
everyday life. as quality can manifest itself in
an immediate appeal to any all aspects of a ceramic vessel,
In China, this glorification
of simplicity, austerity and connoisseur of classic beauty. details of proportion, subtle
naturalness went further; it notions of tactility, nuances
of colour, random patterns of
encompassed the arts as well
splashes or accidental webs of
as the crafts. In the visual arts, it found expression in various
crazing, and so on. Master potters of guan, Jun or Longquan
different ways, for example, in paintings in the intimate format
ware, for example, aimed to achieve results that amaze us
of album leaves and fans depicting contemplative scenes,
like a stone that is coloured or veined in a unique, dazzling
such as tranquil landscapes and close-up studies of birds or
manner. Others, like those working in the Cizhou kilns, tried
animals; and eventually in an extreme minimalism of form, as
to appeal to our appreciation of a more rustic beauty, and
in the ascetic renderings of persimmons in different shades of
sometimes of calligraphic brushwork.
black ink by the monk Muqi (c.1200-1270), or the seemingly
spontaneous, rapid brush strokes of the one-time academy The same simplicity of form can be detected in carvings of
painter Liang Kai (c.1140-c.1210) in his rendering of the poet jade and other stones. Small carvings were often turned
Li Taibo. into fondling pieces, as smooth as pebbles worn down over
millennia, and large boulders were only minimally shaped,
In the Song, the celebration of artlessness was more than a
both aiming to evoke a work created by nature.
flight of fancy or a matter of taste, it was a reflection of an
overarching world view. It therefore pervaded many aspects of The outstanding craftsmanship of the finest works of art
everyday life and also filtered down to works of art. A ceramic paired with the severe minimalism that characterizes their
pot, a tray of lacquered wood, a stone pebble, so obviously designs gives Song artefacts a timeless, ‘contemporary’ feel
non-precious and humble, could become revered artefacts. that has an immediate appeal to any connoisseur of classic
Ceramics in particular were in use in a huge spectrum of beauty. These works of art are anything but simple in their
society, from monks to drink their tea from, right up to conception or their execution, but they try to reflect nature in
imperial banquets. They could be basic mass-produced wares, a romanticised, an idealized – Arcadian – form.