Page 46 - Bonhams NYC Chinese works of Art March 2019

PROPERTY FROM THE HOBART COLLECTION
526 Y
A RARE JUNYAO MOON-WHITE GLAZED NUMBERED
NARCISSUS BOWL
Early Ming dynasty The dating of this group of wares has been the subject of discussion
Potted with shallow rounded sides rising from a flat recessed well, from the opening years of the twentieth century as their large size and
supported on three ruyi-shaped feet emerging from the short circular complex molding technique sets the numbered Jun containers apart
foot ring, the rim bordered with twenty evenly-spaced bosses between from the subtly formed bowls, jars and vases associated by tradition
two narrow raised ridges, with seventeen further bosses encircling the with the Song and Yuan dynasties. After years of research on the large
base just above the foot ring, applied overall with an even milky-blue numbered Jun collection in the Harvard Museums, Robert D. Mowry
glaze with characteristic worm-tracks, thinning to a mushroom tone has made a convincing argument for their manufacture during the early
along the raised edges and bosses, the foot incised with the numeral Ming period: see his “Recent Thoughts on the Dating of Numbered
er (two) and washed with a brown glaze turning to olive where the Jun Ware” which appeared in the exhibition Junyao, held at Eskenazi
glaze thickens, the bottoms of the feet revealing the gray stoneware Gallery, London, 31 October - 22 November 2013, pp. 11-15.
body, wood stand.
8 5/8in (22cm) diam. (2). Examples of numbered Junyao wares in different shades of blue and
purple can be seen in a number of important collections. For examples
$80,000 - 120,000 refer to A Panorama of Ceramics in the Collection of the National
Palace Museum: Chun Ware, Taipei, 1999 pls.27-36; The Complete
Collection of Treasure of the Palace Museum: Porcelain of the Song
明初 鈞窰月白釉鼓釘盆 足內刻《二》字 Dynasty(I), Hong Kong, 1996, pls. 24-28; and Rose Kerr, Song
Dynasty Ceramics, Victoria and Albert Museum, 2004, p.39, pl.30.
Provenance:
Virginia Hobart (1876-1958), and thence by descent An example with a similar glaze, inscribed with the number three, and
dated to the early Ming dynasty, was sold at Sotheby’s, New York,
Narcissus bowls of this type are called guding pen (drum nail basins) 3 April 2018, lot 3606; and another inscribed with the number two,
because their decoration resembles the heads of the nails used to dated Song/Yuan dynasty was sold in our London rooms, 10 July
secure the animal hides to the barrel of Chinese drums. They are the 2006, lot 82.
most popular form of ‘numbered Junyao’ wares, so-called because
they are inscribed on the base with numerals from one to ten.
Comparisons and studies of these numbered wares suggest that the
numbers relate to the size of the vessels, with larger inscribed numbers
generally indicating smaller sizes. The current example with the
number two has a diameter of 8 5/8in (22cm), while another example
inscribed with the number eight, sold at Christie’s, Hong Kong, 3
December 2008, lot 2536 has a diameter of 7 3/4in (19.6cm).

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