Song to Yuan Porcelain
See also : Chinese porcelain Northern Song Southern Song and Yuan
Chronology : 1000-1300 14th century
Chronology : 1000-1300 14th century
The Exquisite Flower of the Northern Song
2014 SOLD 147 MHK$ including premium
On April 8 in Hong Kong, Sotheby's sells a basin made in white porcelain at the time of the Northern Song Dynasty 900 years ago or slightly earlier. This piece in excellent condition is estimated HK $ 60M, lot 11 in the catalog. Its glaze is colored in two very close ivory shades.
This large bowl 22 cm in diameter with high walls enters into the category of the Ding, vessels of good purity used for food or medicine. It is however the high end in this category, with some extreme refinements unique of their kind.
Its theme is floral, first of all by its eight lobes of lotus petal shape. Inside, the floral patterns are finely incised under the glaze, barely noticeable in the photos. The central medallion is decorated with a peony and lotus stems adorn the inside walls. The exterior is blank.
The rim of the bowl is colored by a brown copper strip enabled by sparings in the glaze. This nice addition met the fashion of the time but did not please the emperor. It explains the development of the Ru production, monochrome without sparings, in the very last years of the dynasty.
A Ru washer also shaped as a lobed flower, 13.5 cm diameter, masterpiece of the tactile porcelain art of the Song, was sold for HK 208M including premium by Sotheby's on April 4, 2012.
POST SALE COMMENT
The Song porcelain reached an extraordinary refinement. The well deserved price of this basin, HK $ 147M including premium, is all the more remarkable as this piece was perhaps not imperial.
This large bowl 22 cm in diameter with high walls enters into the category of the Ding, vessels of good purity used for food or medicine. It is however the high end in this category, with some extreme refinements unique of their kind.
Its theme is floral, first of all by its eight lobes of lotus petal shape. Inside, the floral patterns are finely incised under the glaze, barely noticeable in the photos. The central medallion is decorated with a peony and lotus stems adorn the inside walls. The exterior is blank.
The rim of the bowl is colored by a brown copper strip enabled by sparings in the glaze. This nice addition met the fashion of the time but did not please the emperor. It explains the development of the Ru production, monochrome without sparings, in the very last years of the dynasty.
A Ru washer also shaped as a lobed flower, 13.5 cm diameter, masterpiece of the tactile porcelain art of the Song, was sold for HK 208M including premium by Sotheby's on April 4, 2012.
POST SALE COMMENT
The Song porcelain reached an extraordinary refinement. The well deserved price of this basin, HK $ 147M including premium, is all the more remarkable as this piece was perhaps not imperial.
Northern Song - A Black Bowl with Russet Patterns
2018 SOLD for $ 4.2M including premium
The Ding kilns located in Hebei province in northeastern China were producing ceramics since the Tang dynasty. When porcelain begins to compete with jade for imperial use under the Northern Song, Ding is the most important source for these new wares. The bowls are normally stacked upside down during heating, leaving the mouth rim unglazed.
The beautiful creamy white Ding porcelains become commonplace and the court always demands more refinement. The Ding workshops add to their know-how the black porcelain bowls bringing a more pleasant vision of tea froth. The activity of the Ding kilns is not interrupted after the invasion of North China by the Jin in 1125 CE.
Ding potters know how to embellish their black porcelain with colorful effects. On March 22 in New York, Christie's sells as lot 506 a conical bowl 19 cm in diameter made by the Northern Song.
Its glaze is a dense and lustrous black. It is missing on the base and not on the rim, enabling to consider that its manufacture has been especially careful. The potter managed to avoid unpleasant red dots that sometimes appear on pieces from that technique.
Its outside and inner texture is composed of a radiant shower of very fine red-brown or russet splashes that may evoke shooting stars. An almost identical color appears on the mouth rim where the glaze is thinner. The only similar known example is at the National Palace Museum in Taipei. It is less glossy.
This practice of black bowls with colored patterns will be later extended in the Jian kilns of the Southern Song with continuous patterns described as hare fur, tea dust, partridge plumage or oil drops. The manufacturing process has not been retrieved. A Southern Song oil pattern bowl from the same Japanese collection as the piece of the next sale was sold for $ 11.7M including premium by Christie's on September 15, 2016.
The bowl coming for sale had been purchased by its current owner at Christie's in 2002 on the advice of an antique dealer. She evokes the sensational features of this piece in the video shared by The Value.com Ltd.
The beautiful creamy white Ding porcelains become commonplace and the court always demands more refinement. The Ding workshops add to their know-how the black porcelain bowls bringing a more pleasant vision of tea froth. The activity of the Ding kilns is not interrupted after the invasion of North China by the Jin in 1125 CE.
Ding potters know how to embellish their black porcelain with colorful effects. On March 22 in New York, Christie's sells as lot 506 a conical bowl 19 cm in diameter made by the Northern Song.
Its glaze is a dense and lustrous black. It is missing on the base and not on the rim, enabling to consider that its manufacture has been especially careful. The potter managed to avoid unpleasant red dots that sometimes appear on pieces from that technique.
Its outside and inner texture is composed of a radiant shower of very fine red-brown or russet splashes that may evoke shooting stars. An almost identical color appears on the mouth rim where the glaze is thinner. The only similar known example is at the National Palace Museum in Taipei. It is less glossy.
This practice of black bowls with colored patterns will be later extended in the Jian kilns of the Southern Song with continuous patterns described as hare fur, tea dust, partridge plumage or oil drops. The manufacturing process has not been retrieved. A Southern Song oil pattern bowl from the same Japanese collection as the piece of the next sale was sold for $ 11.7M including premium by Christie's on September 15, 2016.
The bowl coming for sale had been purchased by its current owner at Christie's in 2002 on the advice of an antique dealer. She evokes the sensational features of this piece in the video shared by The Value.com Ltd.
Perfection and Diversity of the Ru Ware
2017 SOLD for HK$ 294M including premium
The Ru ware manufactured 900 years ago in present-day Henan province is the most prestigious of all Chinese porcelain for various causes related to the technological development, to the taste of their time and to chance.
By a positioning on tiny studs during cooking without turning the piece upside down, the glaze savings that so displeased at the court of the Northern Song are avoided. The celadon color of which several shades are available equals the refinement of the jade. In the fashion of that time perfect proportions and minimalism are preferred to the complexity of shapes.
Located on what was to become a border zone between north and south, the Ru kilns did not survive the fall of the Northern Song. Their undocumented activity which was perhaps not in the service of the court had only lasted about two decades.
A quarter of a century after the fall of the Northern Song a courtier presents to the Gaozong Emperor of the Southern Song a significant group of Ru ware. The Emperor who was just managing to restore the legendary refinement of his dynasty admires the exceptional quality of these porcelains and especially some pieces whose surface has a texture like ice crackles. This effect modeling the creation of minerals in nature is appreciated as sensational. It was related to the chance of the cooling conditions in the Ru kilns but the Southern Song potters discovered the conditions to be applied to create such a texture at will.
87 pieces of Ru porcelain of the Northern Song are known. Four of them are in private hands.
On April 4, 2012 Sotheby's sold for HK $ 208M including premium over a lower estimate of HK $ 50M a brush washer 13.5 cm in diameter slightly lobed with a smooth texture and a pale color which is close to jade.
On October 3 in Hong Kong, Sotheby's sells as lot 5 a 13 cm round brush washer This intense blue-green piece has an exceptionally shiny crackled surface. The press release of August 22 announces that it is expected in excess of HK $ 100M. Please watch the short video shared by the auction house.
By a positioning on tiny studs during cooking without turning the piece upside down, the glaze savings that so displeased at the court of the Northern Song are avoided. The celadon color of which several shades are available equals the refinement of the jade. In the fashion of that time perfect proportions and minimalism are preferred to the complexity of shapes.
Located on what was to become a border zone between north and south, the Ru kilns did not survive the fall of the Northern Song. Their undocumented activity which was perhaps not in the service of the court had only lasted about two decades.
A quarter of a century after the fall of the Northern Song a courtier presents to the Gaozong Emperor of the Southern Song a significant group of Ru ware. The Emperor who was just managing to restore the legendary refinement of his dynasty admires the exceptional quality of these porcelains and especially some pieces whose surface has a texture like ice crackles. This effect modeling the creation of minerals in nature is appreciated as sensational. It was related to the chance of the cooling conditions in the Ru kilns but the Southern Song potters discovered the conditions to be applied to create such a texture at will.
87 pieces of Ru porcelain of the Northern Song are known. Four of them are in private hands.
On April 4, 2012 Sotheby's sold for HK $ 208M including premium over a lower estimate of HK $ 50M a brush washer 13.5 cm in diameter slightly lobed with a smooth texture and a pale color which is close to jade.
On October 3 in Hong Kong, Sotheby's sells as lot 5 a 13 cm round brush washer This intense blue-green piece has an exceptionally shiny crackled surface. The press release of August 22 announces that it is expected in excess of HK $ 100M. Please watch the short video shared by the auction house.
900-year-old dish to smash US$36 million auction world record for Chinese antiques https://t.co/U56WqVJCQB pic.twitter.com/H7bBHIqiIv
— SCMP News (@SCMPNews) August 24, 2017
The Kilns of the Northern Song
2012 SOLD 208 MHK$ including premium
In the history of mankind, artistic refinement is not a matter of continuous improvement, as one might believe. The chemical secret of the Imperial ceramics of the Northern Song is lost for a long time, and the quality of the smooth and translucent glaze using agate powder will never be equaled.
The best production center was known as the Ru kilns, Ru yao in Chinese. Ru ceramics are very rare because this operation lasted only a few years, 900 years ago during Zhezong and Huizong periods and was stopped by the fall of the dynasty. The site of the Ru yao, lost since the Yuan, was located in 1987 in Henan Province and excavated in 2000.
The classic color of Ru is a very pale blue-green jade imitation. A specimen in very good condition is for sale on April 4 in Hong Kong by Sotheby's. This is a washer of 13.5 cm in diameter that could be used to rinse the brushes after writing. The form is also interesting. The edge is pinched in six locations, simulating the petals of a flower.
This washer was known long before the rediscovery of the site. It is estimated HK $ 60M. It is illustrated on Sotheby's website page announcing the sale.
POST SALE COMMENT
This piece of ceramics had caused great excitement in the weeks preceding the sale. It demonstrates an exceptional technical mastery despite its earliness, probably inimitable since the end of the Northern Song Dynasty.
It was sold HK $ 208 million including premium.
The best production center was known as the Ru kilns, Ru yao in Chinese. Ru ceramics are very rare because this operation lasted only a few years, 900 years ago during Zhezong and Huizong periods and was stopped by the fall of the dynasty. The site of the Ru yao, lost since the Yuan, was located in 1987 in Henan Province and excavated in 2000.
The classic color of Ru is a very pale blue-green jade imitation. A specimen in very good condition is for sale on April 4 in Hong Kong by Sotheby's. This is a washer of 13.5 cm in diameter that could be used to rinse the brushes after writing. The form is also interesting. The edge is pinched in six locations, simulating the petals of a flower.
This washer was known long before the rediscovery of the site. It is estimated HK $ 60M. It is illustrated on Sotheby's website page announcing the sale.
POST SALE COMMENT
This piece of ceramics had caused great excitement in the weeks preceding the sale. It demonstrates an exceptional technical mastery despite its earliness, probably inimitable since the end of the Northern Song Dynasty.
It was sold HK $ 208 million including premium.
Northern Song - A Sky Blue Bowl
2018 SOLD for HK$ 56M including premium
The Qing emperors considered the Imperial Ru porcelain as the best of all time. Its production for a decade or so at the end of the Northern Song dynasty had not been documented in period.
It was identified by the Southern Song that the extreme quality of the Imperial Ru ware was due to the incorporation of agate powder into the glaze. The exploration of the kiln site discovered in Henan province in 1986 showed that they were made beside a mass production in ordinary porcelain.
The techniques applied to hold the pieces during heating and cooling were rudimentary, resulting in a very low yield correlated with the excavation of many fragments on the site.
It is possible that the Imperial Ru was essentially experimental, and applied to most shapes produced at the same place in the other techniques. Because of its top quality, the Southern Song could not do otherwise than qualifying it as 'imperial' and the Qing experts followed.
A sky blue tea bowl 10.2 cm in diameter and 5.2 cm in height surfaced in 2015. Its provenance from Japanese collections is indisputable and precedes for several decades the location of the kiln site. It had been broken, probably in the first part of the twentieth century, and repaired according to a traditional Japanese method including a filling of the gaps by a lacquer mixed with gold powder. It is considered complete.
This piece brings together two of the rarest features in its class.
The extreme scarcity of Imperial Ru bowls had already been highlighted by the Qianlong emperor. A slightly chipped example of identical shape and dimensions but in another color had been found on the kiln site.
Its sky blue color is unique among complete pieces but is also found on some excavated fragments. Highly appreciated in graphic arts by the Northern Song, this color was an attempt by the Ru potters to escape the traditional celadon.
This bowl will be sold by Christie's in Hong Kong on November 26, lot 8006.
It was identified by the Southern Song that the extreme quality of the Imperial Ru ware was due to the incorporation of agate powder into the glaze. The exploration of the kiln site discovered in Henan province in 1986 showed that they were made beside a mass production in ordinary porcelain.
The techniques applied to hold the pieces during heating and cooling were rudimentary, resulting in a very low yield correlated with the excavation of many fragments on the site.
It is possible that the Imperial Ru was essentially experimental, and applied to most shapes produced at the same place in the other techniques. Because of its top quality, the Southern Song could not do otherwise than qualifying it as 'imperial' and the Qing experts followed.
A sky blue tea bowl 10.2 cm in diameter and 5.2 cm in height surfaced in 2015. Its provenance from Japanese collections is indisputable and precedes for several decades the location of the kiln site. It had been broken, probably in the first part of the twentieth century, and repaired according to a traditional Japanese method including a filling of the gaps by a lacquer mixed with gold powder. It is considered complete.
This piece brings together two of the rarest features in its class.
The extreme scarcity of Imperial Ru bowls had already been highlighted by the Qianlong emperor. A slightly chipped example of identical shape and dimensions but in another color had been found on the kiln site.
Its sky blue color is unique among complete pieces but is also found on some excavated fragments. Highly appreciated in graphic arts by the Northern Song, this color was an attempt by the Ru potters to escape the traditional celadon.
This bowl will be sold by Christie's in Hong Kong on November 26, lot 8006.
The Imperial Ware of the Southern Song
2015 SOLD for HK$ 114M including premium
The acceptance of the porcelain by the Song for a normal use in the palace opened a challenge to the specialized craftsmen: the vessels were to be as pleasant as jade in sight and touch. The development is rapid, with new forms, incised figured and white or celadon glazes. The underglaze painting has not yet been invented.
The emperor himself promotes this new art that reaches an unprecedented refinement with the very short operation of the Ru kilns (Ru yao) just before the invasion by the Jin. The Song control is thereafter limited to south China with a temporary capital in the present city of Hangzhou.
Shocked by these events, the Southern Song are looking to redefine their values in a compromise between tradition and progress. Beyond Tang whose luxury was voluptuous, the Song are rediscovering the various shapes of antique ritual bronzes, from Shang to Han. They inaugurated a tradition for the porcelain imitation of old vessels that will be continued up to the Qing.
Two imperial kilns (Guan yao) are installed in Hangzhou. Their location is known, and one of them was probably inside the Imperial City. This official porcelain favors the balance of geometric shapes and the quality of the material instead of the figuration. The Guan of the Southern Song achieves a sophistication comparable to the white Ding porcelain of the early Song and to the wonderful Ru wares.
On April 7 in Hong Kong, Sotheby's sells a Guan vase 22 cm high, lot 1. The press release from March 2 reveals the expectation: beyond HK $ 60M.
The general shape of this bottle made 800 years ago is a hu, with a tall neck over a bulging body. It is yet octagonal from neck to base, with the exception of its circular mouth rim. Four horizontal ribs in slight protuberance offer a pleasant partitioning.
Above the dark brown ceramic that is visible under the base, the bluish-green glaze was built by successive heatings in a complex process that resulted in softening the sharp angles without a mechanical intervention on the ceramic. The final cooling creates the crackled pattern according to the fashion already promoted by the Northern Song, symbolizing the random lines of the nature.
The emperor himself promotes this new art that reaches an unprecedented refinement with the very short operation of the Ru kilns (Ru yao) just before the invasion by the Jin. The Song control is thereafter limited to south China with a temporary capital in the present city of Hangzhou.
Shocked by these events, the Southern Song are looking to redefine their values in a compromise between tradition and progress. Beyond Tang whose luxury was voluptuous, the Song are rediscovering the various shapes of antique ritual bronzes, from Shang to Han. They inaugurated a tradition for the porcelain imitation of old vessels that will be continued up to the Qing.
Two imperial kilns (Guan yao) are installed in Hangzhou. Their location is known, and one of them was probably inside the Imperial City. This official porcelain favors the balance of geometric shapes and the quality of the material instead of the figuration. The Guan of the Southern Song achieves a sophistication comparable to the white Ding porcelain of the early Song and to the wonderful Ru wares.
On April 7 in Hong Kong, Sotheby's sells a Guan vase 22 cm high, lot 1. The press release from March 2 reveals the expectation: beyond HK $ 60M.
The general shape of this bottle made 800 years ago is a hu, with a tall neck over a bulging body. It is yet octagonal from neck to base, with the exception of its circular mouth rim. Four horizontal ribs in slight protuberance offer a pleasant partitioning.
Above the dark brown ceramic that is visible under the base, the bluish-green glaze was built by successive heatings in a complex process that resulted in softening the sharp angles without a mechanical intervention on the ceramic. The final cooling creates the crackled pattern according to the fashion already promoted by the Northern Song, symbolizing the random lines of the nature.
#AuctionUpdate: Song Dynasty 'Guan' Octagonal Vase, Southern sought by 8 bidders, sells for HK$113.9m/US$14.7m pic.twitter.com/70lTua10f9
— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) April 7, 2015
Southern Song - Oil Spots on the Tea Bowl
2016 SOLD for $ 11.7M including premium
Under the Song the tea ceremony culminated in an exquisite refinement that required in its turn an improvement of the porcelain. Potters achieved an unprecedented control of the kiln settings but also of the chemistry applied to the glazes.
The tea is prepared in powder on which the boiling water generates a white froth which is more enjoyable when the porcelain is dark. The Jian kilns provide an additional visual refinement. The iron saturated glaze generates chemical precipitates that create different patterns depending on the precise time at which the process is stopped.
The basic effect consisting of streaks is named hare's fur. A more subtle next step brings a network of iridescent spots, sometimes with halos, constituting patterns known as tea dust, partridge feather or oil spot. Modern chemists failed to reproduce the chemical purity of the iron oxide of the grown solidified drops from the Song porcelain.
On September 15 in New York, Christie's sells a tea bowl 12 cm in diameter realized in Jian technique during the period of the Southern Song around 800 years ago, lot 707 estimated $ 1.5M, with its rare and beautiful wall surface of oil spots on a black background.
The Japanese continued to enjoy the black tea bowls of the Song which they imitated under the name of tenmoku. The bowl for sale is accompanied by a lacquered box probably from Edo period and was registered in Japan as an important art object from 1935 to 2015. It comes from a Japanese collection of old Chinese porcelains.
This piece is the highlight of the second sale of the Linyushanren collection of Song dynasty ceramics. Please watch the video shared by Christie's.
The tea is prepared in powder on which the boiling water generates a white froth which is more enjoyable when the porcelain is dark. The Jian kilns provide an additional visual refinement. The iron saturated glaze generates chemical precipitates that create different patterns depending on the precise time at which the process is stopped.
The basic effect consisting of streaks is named hare's fur. A more subtle next step brings a network of iridescent spots, sometimes with halos, constituting patterns known as tea dust, partridge feather or oil spot. Modern chemists failed to reproduce the chemical purity of the iron oxide of the grown solidified drops from the Song porcelain.
On September 15 in New York, Christie's sells a tea bowl 12 cm in diameter realized in Jian technique during the period of the Southern Song around 800 years ago, lot 707 estimated $ 1.5M, with its rare and beautiful wall surface of oil spots on a black background.
The Japanese continued to enjoy the black tea bowls of the Song which they imitated under the name of tenmoku. The bowl for sale is accompanied by a lacquered box probably from Edo period and was registered in Japan as an important art object from 1935 to 2015. It comes from a Japanese collection of old Chinese porcelains.
This piece is the highlight of the second sale of the Linyushanren collection of Song dynasty ceramics. Please watch the video shared by Christie's.
A very rare Jian Tea Bowl from the Song Dynasty sold for $11.7 million this morninghttps://t.co/xlKOJfoVrH pic.twitter.com/BeS3pwAcdi
— Christie's (@ChristiesInc) September 15, 2016
Multi-Lobed Brush Washers for the Song
2018 SOLD for HK$ 81M including premium
Under the Song dynasties, porcelain replaces jade for the dishes of the imperial palace, provided that its refinement is extreme. The greatest geometric simplicity is highly appreciated. The softness of the glazes is so great to the touch that up to present day it remains the unequaled summit of this art. Incised decorations are often exquisite but are not essential.
From the beginning of the dynasty with the white Ding type porcelain, some cups are multi-lobed, taking the shape of a blooming flower. This form has indeed a practical purpose because it helps to hold the brushes during washing.
900 years ago the "Northern" Song are overthrown by the Jin. The Song dynasty persists in the South with a new capital in Hangzhou. After a long reluctance to settle as far from their home base, the Southern Song recreate therein the best porcelain.
The main porcelain of the Southern Song is named guan. Mimicking the texture of the previous Northern pieces including the phenomenal Ru glaze, the guan porcelain offers new designs in a fertile rivalry between the traditionalists and the minimalist reformists. To please the formers, a great variety of new shapes imitates ancient bronzes and jades. The moderns are managing not without success to approach the quality of the Ru ware.
A Ru brush washer from the Northern Song 13.5 cm in diameter was sold for HK $ 208M including premium by Sotheby's on April 4, 2012.
In an extremely similar style, Sotheby's sells on October 3 in Hong Kong as lot 3105 a guan brush washer of the Southern Song 14 cm in diameter. The thick bluish green glaze with a classic crackle texture is glossy, without decoration. The color changes on the rim, voluntarily imitating not without humor the traces of the position in the kiln that had so much displeased the Song emperors in the early days of the Ding.
A guan dish of comparable design and shape 18 cm in diameter with a celadon glaze was sold for HK $ 26M including premium by Christie's on May 28, 2014.
From the beginning of the dynasty with the white Ding type porcelain, some cups are multi-lobed, taking the shape of a blooming flower. This form has indeed a practical purpose because it helps to hold the brushes during washing.
900 years ago the "Northern" Song are overthrown by the Jin. The Song dynasty persists in the South with a new capital in Hangzhou. After a long reluctance to settle as far from their home base, the Southern Song recreate therein the best porcelain.
The main porcelain of the Southern Song is named guan. Mimicking the texture of the previous Northern pieces including the phenomenal Ru glaze, the guan porcelain offers new designs in a fertile rivalry between the traditionalists and the minimalist reformists. To please the formers, a great variety of new shapes imitates ancient bronzes and jades. The moderns are managing not without success to approach the quality of the Ru ware.
A Ru brush washer from the Northern Song 13.5 cm in diameter was sold for HK $ 208M including premium by Sotheby's on April 4, 2012.
In an extremely similar style, Sotheby's sells on October 3 in Hong Kong as lot 3105 a guan brush washer of the Southern Song 14 cm in diameter. The thick bluish green glaze with a classic crackle texture is glossy, without decoration. The color changes on the rim, voluntarily imitating not without humor the traces of the position in the kiln that had so much displeased the Song emperors in the early days of the Ding.
A guan dish of comparable design and shape 18 cm in diameter with a celadon glaze was sold for HK $ 26M including premium by Christie's on May 28, 2014.
early Yuan - Jingdezhen with the Yuan
2016 SOLD for HK$ 30M including premium
After the perfection in material, robustness and geometry under the Song, the Chinese porcelain got a new artistic development with the Yuan. The blue and white porcelain was also known for a long time but the new Mongol dominance facilitated the import of cobalt from western Mongolia.
The Jingdezhen kilns were already operational under the Tang and Song but their activity is much developed by the Yuan. Responding to the taste of the Middle East, Jingdezhen potters are making complex shaped wares moulded with hollows and bumps for enhancing the decorative pattern. A technical influence from Persian silverware is likely.
The blue and white applied in spares or brush multiplies the figurative themes in the tradition of Chinese graphic art, of course, but also with pleasant vegetal themes that also support the export of Chinese porcelain to the Middle East. At that time the Chinese ceramics, especially those from Jingdezhen, are the only ones that are hygienic enough to bring no health risk to the user.
On October 5 in Hong Kong, Sotheby's sells a Yuan charger, lot 3636 estimated HK $ 25M. This massive piece successfully accumulates the technical difficulties with its mouldings, its bracket lobed rim and its very large size, 48 cm in diameter.
The decoration uses reserves to reveal the white by washing the blue background. Such pieces waste too much cobalt and in addition they were designed per unit. This technique was soon superseded by a blue on white without moulding, cheaper and suitable for a production in series.
The Jingdezhen kilns were already operational under the Tang and Song but their activity is much developed by the Yuan. Responding to the taste of the Middle East, Jingdezhen potters are making complex shaped wares moulded with hollows and bumps for enhancing the decorative pattern. A technical influence from Persian silverware is likely.
The blue and white applied in spares or brush multiplies the figurative themes in the tradition of Chinese graphic art, of course, but also with pleasant vegetal themes that also support the export of Chinese porcelain to the Middle East. At that time the Chinese ceramics, especially those from Jingdezhen, are the only ones that are hygienic enough to bring no health risk to the user.
On October 5 in Hong Kong, Sotheby's sells a Yuan charger, lot 3636 estimated HK $ 25M. This massive piece successfully accumulates the technical difficulties with its mouldings, its bracket lobed rim and its very large size, 48 cm in diameter.
The decoration uses reserves to reveal the white by washing the blue background. Such pieces waste too much cobalt and in addition they were designed per unit. This technique was soon superseded by a blue on white without moulding, cheaper and suitable for a production in series.
1351 A Yuan Guan Jar
2005 SOLD for £ 15.7M including premium by Christie's
narrated in 2020
The fabulous development of the Jingdezhen porcelain production site started during the Yuan dynasty. The white porcelain was painted on the moulded body with blue figures, and then glazed and fired. The excellent quality of the cobalt imported from Iran enabled a color gradation up to the deep blue.
Very fond of warlike feats, the Yuan Mongols enjoyed the zaju, a form of drama invented by their predecessors the Song. The zaju was a multidisciplinary show with recitations, songs, dance and mime. The Yuan zajus narrated the epic legends of the Han or the Tang.
Two forms of porcelain wares were favourable to illustrate the zaju : the guan jar used for the wine and the meiping vase for arranging plum blossom branches. The cobalt drawing filled a circular band all around the body.
On July 12, 2005, Christie's sold for £ 15.7M including premium a Yuan guan jar 33 cm high illustrated in an intense blue from the finest cobalt, lot 88. It is similar in its construction with seven other surviving jars probably from the same workshop, and in its skilful painting with a vase inscribed to the equivalent of 1351 CE.
Its hectic story, not otherwise known in the porcelains, had occured when the presumably invincible state of Yan attempted to conquer the state of Qi, a theme that indeed appealed the Mongol conquerors of China. The cart of the Qi emissary is pulled by two felines. This figure was directly inspired from a woodblock print made in the 1320s.
Very fond of warlike feats, the Yuan Mongols enjoyed the zaju, a form of drama invented by their predecessors the Song. The zaju was a multidisciplinary show with recitations, songs, dance and mime. The Yuan zajus narrated the epic legends of the Han or the Tang.
Two forms of porcelain wares were favourable to illustrate the zaju : the guan jar used for the wine and the meiping vase for arranging plum blossom branches. The cobalt drawing filled a circular band all around the body.
On July 12, 2005, Christie's sold for £ 15.7M including premium a Yuan guan jar 33 cm high illustrated in an intense blue from the finest cobalt, lot 88. It is similar in its construction with seven other surviving jars probably from the same workshop, and in its skilful painting with a vase inscribed to the equivalent of 1351 CE.
Its hectic story, not otherwise known in the porcelains, had occured when the presumably invincible state of Yan attempted to conquer the state of Qi, a theme that indeed appealed the Mongol conquerors of China. The cart of the Qi emissary is pulled by two felines. This figure was directly inspired from a woodblock print made in the 1320s.
