SOUTHERN SONG DYNASTY (1127-1279)

Details

A LONGQUAN CELADON 'ARROW' VASE
SOUTHERN SONG DYNASTY (1127-1279)
The pear-shaped body rises to a tall, slender neck flanked by a pair of tubular handles, and is incised with a series of bands. The vase is covered overall with an even glaze of soft sea-green color.
6 1⁄4 in. (16 cm.) high, Japanese wood box

Special notice

Please note that this lot is subject to an import tariff. The amount of the import tariff due is a percentage of the final hammer price plus buyer's premium. The buyer should contact Post Sale Services prior to the sale to determine the estimated amount of the import tariff. If the buyer instructs Christie's to arrange shipping of the lot to a foreign address the buyer will not be required to pay the import tariff, but the shipment may be delayed while awaiting approval to export from the local government. If the buyer instructs Christie's to arrange shipping of the lot to a domestic address, if the buyer collects the property in person, or if the buyer arranges their own shipping (whether domestically or internationally), the buyer will be required to pay the import tariff. For the purpose of calculating sales tax, if applicable, the import tariff will be added to the final hammer price plus buyer's premium and sales tax will be collected as per The Buyer's Premium and Taxes section of the Conditions of Sale.

Conditions of sale

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Lot Essay

The form of this vase is based on ‘arrow vases’, or touhu, the primary accessory of a drinking game which involved throwing all of one's arrows into the mouth of the vessel. The loser was assessed a penalty drink for every errant throw.

Too small to actually be used in the drinking game, the present vase was probably intended to hold flowers. A pair of Longquan arrow vases of the same height but with wider necks, was recovered from the tomb of the Yuan calligrapher Xian Yushu (1251-1302). See Zhang Yulan, "Hangzhoushi faxian Yuandai Xian Yushu mu," Wenwu, 1990:9, p. 24, figs. 11-12. Another similar vase was included in the exhibition, The Scholar as Collector: Chinese Art at Yale, Yale University Art Gallery and China Institute in America, New York, 2004, p. 18, fig. 8.

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