Page 21 - Chinese Ceramics the Linyushanren Collection Part 1 , Christie's

the recessed lines. The decoration is composed of repeated scrolls, which provide a Lot 2808
rich texture to the surface of the vase. A Purple-Splashed Jun Bowl

The Linyushanren Collection also contains a number of fine Jun wares – those Lot 2812
with plain blue glazes and those embellished with copper oxide to create areas A Rare ‘Numbered Four’ Jun Bracket-Lobed Narcissus
of purple. Like Ding wares, Jun wares have also been classed by connoisseurs as Bowl
one of the ‘Five Famous Wares of the Song Dynasty’, along with Ru wares, Guan
wares, and Ge wares. The two main centres for the production of Jun wares in the
Song and Jin period were at Linru, on the Ru River near Luoyang, and at Shenhou,
Yuxian, in Henan province. Jun wares are prized for their remarkable glaze which
is thick, opalescent and appears in various tones of blue. The glaze is of lime-alkali
type, but it has particular qualities which have been the subject of much research.5
Like all celadons, the Jun glaze owes some of its blue coloration to the reduction
of small quantities of iron oxide in the glaze during reduction firing. However, the
opalescence and much of the blue appearance of the glaze are caused by several
in-glaze phenomena, the most important of which is liquid-liquid phase separation
- the formation of tiny globules of lime-rich glass within the silica-rich glaze matrix.
To produce this emulsion, the Jun glaze had to be kept at a high temperature for a
specific period and had to be cooled very slowly. If, however, the glaze was cooled
for too long a period, it became almost opaque due to the growth of wollastonite
crystals. Some of these rounded white crystals, which grew in the calcium-rich
areas of the glaze, were desirable since the pale clouds that they formed added
to the interesting texture of the glaze, as did the gas bubbles resulting from
incompletely burned lime and phosphates. All these elements affected the passage
of light through the glaze and contribute to its colour and texture. Their effect was
enhanced by the growth of a white layer of needle-like anorthite crystals at the
interface between body and glaze, which scattered and reflected back the light.

Although the earliest Jun wares had plain blue glazes, from the end of the 11th
century many pieces were decorated with red and purple areas produced by
applying copper oxide to the surface of the unfired glaze. Such purple areas can
be seen on a particularly beautiful ‘bubble’ bowl in the current sale (Lot 2808).
‘Bubble’ bowls, which have rounded sides and a slightly inverted rims are the most
characteristic of all Jun shapes.

Lot 2808 Lot 2812
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The Linyushanren Collection, Part I