SOUTHERN SONG DYNASTY (1127-1279)

Details

A VERY RARE QINGBAI EWER, COVER, AND WARMING BASIN
SOUTHERN SONG DYNASTY (1127-1279)
The ewer with hexalobed body is applied with a molded petal collar, and is set with a curved spout opposite the arched, strap handle. The cover is surmounted by a figure of a lion and is pierced with two holes for attachment. The deep basin is raised on a high foot molded with pendent overlapping petals and is divided into seven lobes, which are incised with stylized floral decoration. The ewer, cover and basin are covered overall with a translucent glaze of pale bluish tone.
Ewer and cover: 9 in. (22.9 cm.) high, Japanese wood box
Basin: 6 ½ in. (16.5 cm.) diam.

Provenance

Yamashita Sakuro (b. 1908) Collection (according to label).
Hirano Kotoken, Tokyo (according to label on box).
Mineo Hata Collection, Kobe, Japan.

Literature

Kubosō Memorial Museum of Arts, Sosogu utsuwa (Ewers), Izumi, 1986, p. 62, no. 116.

Exhibited

Izumi, Kubosō Memorial Museum of Arts, Sosogu utsuwa (Ewers), 10 October 1986.

Conditions of sale

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Lot Essay

It is very rare to find a ewer that has survived alongside its corresponding basin. A Northern Song dynasty qingbai ewer with a very similar cover surmounted by a seated lion, also with a lobed warming basin, was excavated in 2004 at Shangdang commune, Dantu county, Zhenjiang city, and is illustrated in Zhongguo chutu ciqi quanji - 7 – Jiangsu Shanghai (Complete Collection of Ceramic Art Unearthed in China), vol. 7, Beijing, 2008, no. 116. The Shangdang basin, however, lacks the band of molded petals around the foot.

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