NORTHERN SONG DYNASTY (960-1127)

Details

A RARE YAOZHOU CARVED ‘FLORAL’ DISH
NORTHERN SONG DYNASTY (960-1127)
The dish is finely potted with a shallow, angular profile rising to a rolled rim, fluidly carved to the interior with a single bloom with broad trefoil leaves, covered overall with a crackled glaze of olive-green tone with the exception of a small patch on the base and the foot ring revealing the pale greyish-white body.
7 3/8 in. (18.8 cm.), Japanese wood box

Provenance

Mayuyama & Co. Ltd, Tokyo, prior to 1948
Collection of Umezawa Hikotaro, Tokyo, 1952
Sold at Sotheby’s London, 11 May 2011, lot 10

Literature

Koyama Fujio-, So- ji [Song ceramics], Tokyo, 1943, pl. 20
Seiichi Muhaidojin Den, Rhusen Kaiko/ Reminiscences of Matsutaro Mayuyama, Tokyo, 1948, pl. 3
Sherman E. Lee, ‘Sung Ceramics in the Light of Recent Japanese Research’, Artibus Asiae, XI, no. 3, 1948, fig. 5
Ko-yama Fujio- (ed.), Sekai to- ji zenshu- [Ceramic art of the world], vol. 10, Tokyo, 1955, pl. 26
To-yo- bijutsu [Oriental art], vol. 4, Tokyo, 1967, pl. 18
Ko-yama Fujio-, To-ki Ko-za [Lectures on ceramics], vol. 6: Chu-goku II. So- [China II. Song], Tokyo, 1971, pl. 18
Mayuyama, Seventy Years, Tokyo, 1976, vol. I, pl. 343
Hasebe Gakuji, Sekai to-ji zenshu-/Ceramic Art of the World, vol. 12: So-/Sung Dynasty, Tokyo, 1977, pl. 197
Chu-goku to-ji shi [History of Chinese ceramics], Tokyo, 1978, pl. 12
Ko-yama Fujio-, To-ji taikei [Outlines of ceramics], vol. 36: Seiji [Celadon], Tokyo, 1978, pl. 59
So- Gen no bijutsu [The art of the Song and Yuan], Tokyo, 1980, pl. 97
Sato- Masahiko, Chinese Ceramics. A Short History, New York and Tokyo, 1981, pl. 8
Yaozhou yao/Yaozhou Kiln, Xi’an, 1992, frontispiece and last (unnumbered) page

Exhibited

Los Angeles County Museum, Chinese Ceramics from Prehistoric Period through Ch’ien Lung, Los Angeles, 1952, cat. no. 175
The Japan Ceramic Society (Takashimaya Nihonbashi), So- ji meihin ten/Exhibition of Sung Ceramics, The Japan Ceramic Society Tenth Anniversary Exhibition, Tokyo, 1955, cat. no. 16
Chu-goku ko to-ji. To- So- meiji ten [Ancient Chinese ceramics: Exhibition of important Tang and Song ceramics], Shirokiya Department Store, Nihonbashi, Tokyo, 1964, cat. no. 104
Osaka Municipal Art Museum, So- Gen no bijutsu [The art of Song and Yuan], Osaka, 1978, cat. no. 1-59
Chu-goku no to-ji/Special Exhibition of Chinese Ceramics, Tokyo National Museum, Tokyo, 1994, cat. no. 146
Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka, Yoshuyo/The Masterpieces of Yaozhou Ware, Osaka, 1997, cat. no. 42, with enlarged detail as chapter divider, p. 141
Tobu Museum of Art, Tokyo; The Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka; Hagi Uragami Museum, Hagi, So- ji [Song ceramics], 1999, cat. no. 15
The dish was included in at least three further unidentified exhibitions in Japan, respectively as no. 23, no. 67, and unnumbered (exhibition labels preserved)

Brought to you by

Priscilla Kong

pkong@christies.com +852 2978 9958

Lot Essay

The current dish, distinguished by its crisp carving, superb potting and elegant form, is exemplary of the finest works made at the Yaozhou kilns. It has been treasured as an important object in Japan for generations, having appeared in numerous important Chinese art exhibitions and publications in Japan, the earliest dating to 1943. It previously came from the well respected dealer Mayuyama, before entering the collection of Umezawa Hikotaro (1893-1969), a businessman who served as the first president of the Japan Ceramic Society.
A few dishes of this rare design can be found in important institutions, including one from the Fuller collection, sold at Christie’s London, 28 June 1965, lot 297, and now on display at the Asia Society, New York; one in the Palace Museum, Beijing, published in Porcelain of the Song Dynasty (I), The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 1996, no. 127; and one in the Baur Collection, illustrated in John Ayers, The Baur Collection, Geneva: Chinese Ceramics, vol. 1, Geneva, 1968, pl. A25.

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