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Lot Essay
The form of this vase is based on a jade cong ritual object with a circular core and a square exterior; for an example, see the jade cong dating to the Neolithic period, Liangzhu Culture, in the Nanjing Museum, included in the exhibition, China: 5,000 Years, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1998, pl. 5. Such artifacts were enthusiastically collected by the educated elite of the Northern and Southern Song dynasties, prompting the production of contemporary vessels of bronze and ceramic based on these antique models.
A number of Longquan celadon cong-form vases of this size are published, including several in renowned museum collections. A slightly smaller example from the collection of the Idemitsu Museum of Arts, Tokyo, is illustrated in The 15th Anniversary Catalogue, 1981, p. 167, no. 667. Another was included in the exhibition, Treasures from the Shanghai Museum: 6000 Years of Chinese Art, 1983-1984, pl. XXVI. Another is illustrated by R.L. d'Argencé, Chinese Ceramics in the Avery Brundage Collection, San Francisco, 1967, pl. XLIV, fig. A. A larger example from the collection of the Indianapolis Museum of Art is illustrated by Y. Mino and J. Robinson, Beauty and Tranquility: The Eli Lilly Collection of Chinese Art, 1983, pl. 76.
M. Tregear discusses this group in Song Ceramics, New York, 1982, p. 178, and notes that 'the celadon of southern Zhejiang was a short-lived ware, made for no more than two hundred years and possibly less. Classic celadon from Longuan was the product of the Southern Song period and the first quarter of the fourteenth century. At its finest this ware embodied many of the best aspects of southern Chinese style. There was great elegance, tempered by a sensuous glaze of beautiful soft colour.'
A number of Longquan celadon cong-form vases of this size are published, including several in renowned museum collections. A slightly smaller example from the collection of the Idemitsu Museum of Arts, Tokyo, is illustrated in The 15th Anniversary Catalogue, 1981, p. 167, no. 667. Another was included in the exhibition, Treasures from the Shanghai Museum: 6000 Years of Chinese Art, 1983-1984, pl. XXVI. Another is illustrated by R.L. d'Argencé, Chinese Ceramics in the Avery Brundage Collection, San Francisco, 1967, pl. XLIV, fig. A. A larger example from the collection of the Indianapolis Museum of Art is illustrated by Y. Mino and J. Robinson, Beauty and Tranquility: The Eli Lilly Collection of Chinese Art, 1983, pl. 76.
M. Tregear discusses this group in Song Ceramics, New York, 1982, p. 178, and notes that 'the celadon of southern Zhejiang was a short-lived ware, made for no more than two hundred years and possibly less. Classic celadon from Longuan was the product of the Southern Song period and the first quarter of the fourteenth century. At its finest this ware embodied many of the best aspects of southern Chinese style. There was great elegance, tempered by a sensuous glaze of beautiful soft colour.'