A RARE LARGE CIZHOU SGRAFIATTO VASE, MEIPING

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Located beside the moat of Imabari castle where the Hisamatsu Family, a branch of the Tokugawa shogunate, had resided since 1635 in present day Ehime prefecture, Ehime Bunkakan was established in 1955 by Ninomiya Kaneichi (1898 – 1996). Kaneichi was a successful businessman who made his fortune from forestry. When he was only eighteen years old, he had an important role in his father’s modest workshop of wood products. Kaneichi eventually took over the business and through skillful investments he introduced new machine tools and started a modern sawmilling factory. Using a keen business acumen, Kaneichi tirelessly bought forest and mountains across Shikoku Island in the 1930s, sensing the dramatic change that would happen in society in the coming years when Japan would enter into a long period of war. His foresight was proven right, as after the war the demands of timber reached a height as cities were rebuilt. His contributions to his hometown of Imabari were particularly generous, where he was subsequently elected a city council member. After the war, Kaneichi grew concerned that traditional values and cultural relics had lost their importance in society and began to collect Chinese and Japanese antiques. Shortly after, he joined the Japanese Ceramics Society, and his knowledge became enriched by the top academics and long-standing antique dealers in the society, such as Mayuyama & Co., leading to enriching his collection with top quality works. His love of his hometown and his passion for art caused him to open the Ehime Museum of Art, created initially to contribute to the cultural landscape of the local community. ‌PROPERTY FROM THE EHIME BUNKAKAN, JAPAN

A RARE LARGE CIZHOU SGRAFIATTO VASE, MEIPING

SONG-JIN DYNASTY (AD 960-1234)

Details

A RARE LARGE CIZHOU SGRAFIATTO VASE, MEIPING
SONG-JIN DYNASTY (AD 960-1234)
The tapering vase is carved through the creamy-white slip to the pale-grey ground with a broad band of sweeping peony scroll between geometric bands and petal borders, all under a clear glaze.
16 3/4 in. (42.5 cm.) high

Provenance

Ehime Bunkakan, Japan.

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

A comparable Cizhou meiping dated to the 11^th-12^th century of slightly larger size (47 cm. high) carved through a cream-colored glaze to a pale grey ground was gifted by Mrs. Samuel T. Peters in 1926 to The Metropolitan Museum (acc. no. 26.292.56). The Metropolitan Museum vase is carved with a broad central scroll band with leaves similarly rendered to those on the present vase but lacking the large peony blossoms.

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