Page 29 - 2019 October Important Chinese Ceramics Sotheby's Hong Kong

xquisitely modelled in the form of a reclining boy clutching the stem of a lotus leaf with both hands, this charming piece belongs
to a very rare and highly sophisticated group of figural headrests. Covered in a soft ivory-tinged glaze, this pillow is particularly
E notable for the sensitive modelling of the boy’s reclining pose, the detailed rendering of his clothing, and the luxurious floret
design on the headrest, which simulates brocaded textile.

Ceramic pillows were first manufactured in the Tang dynasty and became popular luxurious items in the Song period. They not only
provided support while sleeping but were considered as bridges between the conscious and unconscious self. They were fashioned from
materials that were believed to have health properties, and their designs were carefully chosen as harbingers of happiness and good
fortune. The late Ming dynasty (1368-1644) writer Gao Lian in his Cunshen bajian [Eight discourses on the art of living], published in
1591, tells the story of immortal Yao, who had ‘pure and elegant dreams’ after sleeping on a pile of rolled-up paper scrolls.
The cooling properties of ceramic made it a particularly suitable material for the manufacture of pillows. The Northern Song dynasty
poet Zhang Lei in his Thanks to Master Huang for the Green Porcelain Pillow, wrote: ‘Porcelain made by the Gong people is strong and
blue; an old friend gave it to me to beat the heat; it cools down the room like a breeze; keeping my head cool while I sleep; This amazing
clay item keeps one’s head cool and hair cold’.
Pillows in the form of boys were given as wedding gifts and represented the wish for the continuation of the family line and the birth
of male offspring. The scholar Sun Simiao (581-682) in his Beiji qianjin yaofang [Prescriptions worth a thousand, for every emergency],
expresses the widespread belief that the gender of foetuses could be influenced by the expectant mother through what she saw and ate,
her emotions as well as her dreams. These figurative pillows were thus believed to both aid in the onset of pregnancy and positively
influence mothers’ dreams (Ann Barrott Wicks, Children in Chinese Art, Honolulu, 2002, p. 12).
Three Dingyao pillows in the form of reclining boys holding a lotus leaf are known: the first in the Avery Brundage collection, now in
the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, is illustrated in Li He, Chinese Ceramics. The New Standard Guide, San Francisco, 1996, pl. 218;
the second in the Meiyintang collection is illustrated in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, vol. 3 (II), London,
2006, pl. 1428; and the third from the Musée Royaoux d’Art et d’Histoire, Brussels, was sold in our New York rooms, 23rd September
1995, lot 398.
Pillows modelled in the form of boys holding a lotus leaf were made at various kilns in both northern and southern China; a Cizhou
pillow of this form in the Museum of the Western Han Dynasty Mausoleum of the Nan Yue King, Guangzhou, is illustrated in Cizhou
yaoci zhen [Cizhou ceramic pillows], Beijing, 2000, p. 270; another was sold in our New York rooms, 15th March 2017, lot 618; a
Yaozhou example in the Meiyintang collection, is illustrated op.cit., pl. 1479; another from the Jaehne collection, in the Newark Museum,
New Jersey, was included in the exhibition Chinese Art in the Newark Museum, China Institute of America, New York, 1980, pp. 10 and
33; and two qingbai pillows are illustrated in Rose Kerr, Song Through 21st Century Eyes, Hong Kong, 2009, pls 2-15 and 2-16.

品採童子躺臥雙手執荷之姿，造型可愛悅目。所罩白 玫茵堂收藏，載於康蕊君，《玫茵堂中國陶瓷》，卷3 (II)，倫
此 釉柔和，童子的側臥姿勢經精心模製，衣衫圖案細 敦，2006年，編號1428。第三件來自布魯塞爾皇家藝術與藝術
膩，加上瓷枕上的周邊裝飾，妙仿織品華麗。 博物館，1995年9月23日售於紐約蘇富比，編號398。

始創於唐，尤盛於宋，人盡珍之。瓷枕除了為睡眠而備，更另 童子執荷造型的瓷枕，在中國北方和南方的各個窰場都有燒
有效用。講究強健體魄，馳騁美夢，調養心神。晚明文人高濂 造。可見一相類磁州窰枕例，與本品相類，亦作實底，藏廣
在萬曆十九年（1591年）初刊的《遵生八箋》記載了書枕：「 州西漢南越王博物館，載於《磁州窰瓷枕》，北京，2000年，
臞仙製，用紙三大卷，狀如碗，品字相迭，束縛成枕，頭枕上 頁270。另一枕售於紐約蘇富比2017年3月15日，編號618。玫
卷，每卷綴以朱簽牙牌，下垂，一曰太清天籙，一曰南極壽 茵堂收藏的耀州窰瓷枕，同載於《玫茵堂中國陶瓷》，編號
書，一曰蓬萊仙籍。用以枕於書窗之下，便作一夢清雅。」 1479。Jaehne 收藏亦見一例，現存新澤西州紐瓦克博物飾，展
於《Chinese Art from the Newark Museum》，華美協進社，
枕用瓷材，消夏納涼。北宋詩人張耒曾作《謝黃師是惠碧瓷
紐約，1980年，頁10及33。參考兩相類青白釉孩兒枕，載於柯
枕》：「鞏人作枕堅且青，故人贈我消炎蒸。持之入室涼風
玫瑰，《Song Through 21st Century Eyes. Yaozhou and Qingbai
生，腦寒發冷泥丸驚。」
Ceramics》，香港，2009年，圖版2-15及2-16。
目前已知的定窰童子執荷瓷枕有三。第一件屬舊金山亞洲藝
童子題材瓷枕，多為婚嫁喜慶所用，祈求子孫滿堂（見《 枕林
術博物館布倫戴奇舊藏，載於賀利，《Chinese Ceramics. The
尋夢：中國歷代陶瓷枕精品》，上海，2000年，頁262）。
New Standard Guide》，三藩市，1996年，圖版218。第二件為

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