.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
A Rare Yuan dynasty Longquan 'Eight Immortals' Meiping
Rosemary Scott
Independent scholar
Visiting ceramics research fellow, Palace Museum, Beijing
The current vase with its distinctive octagonal shape and moulded panels belongs to a rare and important group of Longquan celadon-glazed meiping vases with facetted sides and crisply-moulded decoration. While the moulding on such vessel is usually of good quality, that on the present meiping is especially fine, with all the relief details sharply defined. Longquan celadons were at a peak of popularity in the 12th-14th century, and were prized by both Chinese and Japanese connoisseurs, as well as in several other overseas markets. The glazes on the finest examples, like that on the current vase, were admired for their rich soft green translucence and jade-like texture.
A decorative technique, in which parts of the decoration were left unglazed to provide a contrast with the green glaze, came to prominence on high-quality wares made at the Longquan kilns in the Yuan dynasty (1279-1368). Due to very small amounts of iron oxide in the body material, when the wares were fired and oxygen was allowed back into the kiln, the surface of the unglazed areas turned a reddish brown – as on the current meiping. In some instances – for example on the interior base of large dishes – unglazed sprig-moulded elements, such as dragons, were laid on the surface of the unfired glaze before the piece entered the kiln. However, this technique was only suitable for horizontal surfaces, and for the vertical sides of vases, such as the current vase, stem cups or jars – like the wine jar in the Brooklyn Museum, which is decorated with the Eight Immortals crossing the sea (Acc. No. 52.49.33) (Fig.1) - the designs were moulded into the fabric of the vessel. The area to be left unglazed was covered with wax, so that glaze would not adhere when glaze was applied to the rest of the vessel. The wax burned off during firing. Careful examination of the reddish unglazed decorative areas of such Longquan wares often reveals tiny traces of gilding, which had been applied after firing, but proved fugitive over time.
Facetted shapes were rare amongst the ceramics of the Song (960-1279) and Jin (1115-1234) dynasties. However, although facetted vases are rare amongst Longquan celadons, other facetted forms appeared with greater frequency on both Longquan wares and blue and white porcelains in the Yuan period. This popularity of facetted forms may be seen either as a reflection of a contemporary interest in metalwork from west of China's borders - Iran, Syria and Mamluk Egypt, as has been suggested by several scholars (see M. Medley, Metalwork and Chinese Ceramics, Percival David Foundation Monograph Series No. 2, London, 1972, p. 14), or as a revival of an interest in Tang dynasty (618-907) metalwork. A number of Tang precious metal vessels were made in facetted form, probably as a result of cultural contact with Western and Central Asia. The most famous of these are the octagonal gold cups found in the cargo of the Belitong wreck and in the Hejiacun hoard (discussed by R. Scott in 'A Remarkable Tang Dynasty Cargo', Transactions of the Oriental Ceramic Society, vol. 67, 2002-2003, pp. 20-22). While facetted forms were occasionally made in the Song period - for example the octagonal Northern Song early Longquan celadon ewer in the collection of the Zhejiang Provincial Museum (illustrated in Longquan yao qingci, Celadons from Longquan Kilns, Taipei, 1998, p. 87, no. 46) - in the Yuan dynasty a greater variety of facetted ceramic vessels were made. It may be noted that, in addition to vases, facetted Longquan dishes and bowls, as well as stem cups, were made in the Yuan period (see ibid., pp. 232-3, nos. 214 and 215, and p. 215, no. 195). It is significant that a wide-necked pear-shaped vase in the collection of the Lushui Museum dating to the Southern Song period (illustrated ibid., p. 152, no. 119) has moulded facetted sides, but is fully glazed, unlike the current Yuan dynasty meiping, on which the central panel on each facet has been reserved in biscuit. The octagonal Yuan dynasty bowl, mentioned above, is also interesting in that the exterior moulded design has reserved panels, but the moulded decoration on the interior is fully glazed.
A small number of Longquan vases of similar shape to the current example are to be found in international collections. A vase of the same size, shape and with moulded decorative panels depicting the Eight Daoist Immortals is in the Philadelphia Museum of Art (illustrated by Y. Mino & K. Tsiang, Ice and Green Clouds: Traditions of Chinese Celadon, Indianapolis, 1986, pp. 202-3, no. 82). There is also a Longquan celadon octagonal meiping in the Percival David Collection (discussed by R. Scott in Imperial Taste - Chinese Ceramics from the Percival David Foundation, San Francisco, 1989, pp. 48-9, no. 23). On the David example, as on the current vase, each facet bears moulded decoration in three separate panels, the central one of which is unglazed. On the shoulder the panels contain a single chrysanthemum spray. However, unlike the current vase, on the David meiping the reserved central quatrefoil panels, unusually, alternately contain a three-flower chrysanthemum spray, or a Daoist immortal among clouds. The Daoist immortal, who holds a double gourd in one hand and a crutch in the other can be identified as Li Tieguai (Iron Crutch Li), one of the Eight Immortals. The David Collection vase is one of those on which tiny traces of gilding can be seen in the deeper sections of the unglazed relief decoration. A further vase of this type depicting the Eight Daoist Immortals, with a crackled glaze and a reduced foot, is in the collection of the British Museum (illustrated in Oriental Ceramics, The World's Great Collections, volume 5, The British Museum, Tokyo, New York and San Francisco, 1981, col. pl. 75). (Fig. 2) Another of these vases is in the collection of the Zwinger Palace, Dresden (illustrated in Farbige Glasuren auf Porzellan, 1990, no. 11). (Fig. 3) An octagonal Longquan celadon meiping of this type is also in the collection of the Phoenix Art Museum, Arizona, while a slightly more elongated vase of similar appearance in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, is illustrated by He Li, in Chinese Ceramics, A New Comprehensive Survey, New York, 1996, p. 187, no. 364. (Fig. 4) A vase of this type, but on which all three panels of each facet have been left unglazed is in the collection of the Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. (see Oriental Ceramics, The World's Great Collections, volume 9, The Freer Gallery of Art, Tokyo, New York and San Francisco, 1981, fig. 77). An octagonal vase of similar type to the current vase, but fully glazed and with the addition of tobi seiji (flying celadon) iron spots, was sold by Christie’s Hong Kong 30 November 2011, lot 3010. Only one other vase of similar size, shape and design, including the iron spots appears to have been published. This is in a Japanese collection (illustrated in Sekai toji zenshu 13 Liao Jin Yuan, Tokyo, 1981, pp. 44-45, No. 32) and, like the current example has immortals depicted in all the central panels, but with iron brown spots around these panels. A smaller vase of this type, also with iron spots is in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing (illustrated in Zhongguo wenwu jinghua daquan - taoci juan, Taipei, 1993, p. 356, no. 626). These last three vases appear to be the only published examples of this type on which the upper panels are shaped like confronted paired fish, rather than being quatrefoil panels.
The figures amongst clouds in the central panels in the current vase represent the Eight Daoist Immortals. In addition to Li Tieguai, mentioned above, the eight comprised Zhongli Quan, Lü Dongbin, Zhang Guolao, Han Xiangzi, Cao Guoqiu, Lan Caihe, and He Xian’gu, most of whom were believed to have lived in the Tang dynasty. These figures were recognised and venerated in the Song dynasty, and appear as a recognisable group in northern China in the Jin dynasty. The emergence of the Eight Immortals as a group accompanied the spread of the Quanzhen Complete Realization sect of Daoism in China during the Jin and succeeding Yuan dynasty.
Although the rulers of north China during the Jin dynasty were Jurchens, the elite adopted Chinese culture and supported the Chinese arts, including theatre. In the Jin dynasty brick-built tombs of Shanxi province, which followed Song traditions, theatre scenes often decorated the walls, including depictions of the Eight Daoist Immortals. A number of such brick tombs with ceramic sculptures, dating to the late 12th and early 13th centuries, have been excavated in the area of Pingyang (present-day Linfen) in southern Shanxi. However, it was in the Yuan dynasty that the Eight Immortals were more widely popularised in literature and began to appear regularly in paintings and, occasionally, in the decorative arts. The Daoist temple known as Yongle Gong (Palace of Eternal Joy) built near the banks of the Yellow River in Shanxi (and moved 15 miles north, piece by piece between 1958 and 1966, to Ruicheng xian in southern Shanxi to save it being flooded by the new Sanmenxia Dam project) was built in honour of Lü Dongbin - one of the Eight Immortals, who was believed to have been born nearby - and its Chunyang dian (Hall of Purified Yang) contains murals depicting the Eight Immortals. Yuan dynasty dramas such Yueyang Pavilion, The Bamboo Raft, and Willow Tree in the South of the City all helped to bring the Eight Immortals to prominence. The Eight Daoist Immortals are, however, relatively rare on Yuan dynasty ceramics, and the small group of octagonal Longquan celadon-glazed vases, to which the current meiping belongs, constitutes important surviving evidence of their early appearance in the decorative arts generally and this medium in particular.
Rosemary Scott
Independent scholar
Visiting ceramics research fellow, Palace Museum, Beijing
The current vase with its distinctive octagonal shape and moulded panels belongs to a rare and important group of Longquan celadon-glazed meiping vases with facetted sides and crisply-moulded decoration. While the moulding on such vessel is usually of good quality, that on the present meiping is especially fine, with all the relief details sharply defined. Longquan celadons were at a peak of popularity in the 12th-14th century, and were prized by both Chinese and Japanese connoisseurs, as well as in several other overseas markets. The glazes on the finest examples, like that on the current vase, were admired for their rich soft green translucence and jade-like texture.
A decorative technique, in which parts of the decoration were left unglazed to provide a contrast with the green glaze, came to prominence on high-quality wares made at the Longquan kilns in the Yuan dynasty (1279-1368). Due to very small amounts of iron oxide in the body material, when the wares were fired and oxygen was allowed back into the kiln, the surface of the unglazed areas turned a reddish brown – as on the current meiping. In some instances – for example on the interior base of large dishes – unglazed sprig-moulded elements, such as dragons, were laid on the surface of the unfired glaze before the piece entered the kiln. However, this technique was only suitable for horizontal surfaces, and for the vertical sides of vases, such as the current vase, stem cups or jars – like the wine jar in the Brooklyn Museum, which is decorated with the Eight Immortals crossing the sea (Acc. No. 52.49.33) (Fig.1) - the designs were moulded into the fabric of the vessel. The area to be left unglazed was covered with wax, so that glaze would not adhere when glaze was applied to the rest of the vessel. The wax burned off during firing. Careful examination of the reddish unglazed decorative areas of such Longquan wares often reveals tiny traces of gilding, which had been applied after firing, but proved fugitive over time.
Facetted shapes were rare amongst the ceramics of the Song (960-1279) and Jin (1115-1234) dynasties. However, although facetted vases are rare amongst Longquan celadons, other facetted forms appeared with greater frequency on both Longquan wares and blue and white porcelains in the Yuan period. This popularity of facetted forms may be seen either as a reflection of a contemporary interest in metalwork from west of China's borders - Iran, Syria and Mamluk Egypt, as has been suggested by several scholars (see M. Medley, Metalwork and Chinese Ceramics, Percival David Foundation Monograph Series No. 2, London, 1972, p. 14), or as a revival of an interest in Tang dynasty (618-907) metalwork. A number of Tang precious metal vessels were made in facetted form, probably as a result of cultural contact with Western and Central Asia. The most famous of these are the octagonal gold cups found in the cargo of the Belitong wreck and in the Hejiacun hoard (discussed by R. Scott in 'A Remarkable Tang Dynasty Cargo', Transactions of the Oriental Ceramic Society, vol. 67, 2002-2003, pp. 20-22). While facetted forms were occasionally made in the Song period - for example the octagonal Northern Song early Longquan celadon ewer in the collection of the Zhejiang Provincial Museum (illustrated in Longquan yao qingci, Celadons from Longquan Kilns, Taipei, 1998, p. 87, no. 46) - in the Yuan dynasty a greater variety of facetted ceramic vessels were made. It may be noted that, in addition to vases, facetted Longquan dishes and bowls, as well as stem cups, were made in the Yuan period (see ibid., pp. 232-3, nos. 214 and 215, and p. 215, no. 195). It is significant that a wide-necked pear-shaped vase in the collection of the Lushui Museum dating to the Southern Song period (illustrated ibid., p. 152, no. 119) has moulded facetted sides, but is fully glazed, unlike the current Yuan dynasty meiping, on which the central panel on each facet has been reserved in biscuit. The octagonal Yuan dynasty bowl, mentioned above, is also interesting in that the exterior moulded design has reserved panels, but the moulded decoration on the interior is fully glazed.
A small number of Longquan vases of similar shape to the current example are to be found in international collections. A vase of the same size, shape and with moulded decorative panels depicting the Eight Daoist Immortals is in the Philadelphia Museum of Art (illustrated by Y. Mino & K. Tsiang, Ice and Green Clouds: Traditions of Chinese Celadon, Indianapolis, 1986, pp. 202-3, no. 82). There is also a Longquan celadon octagonal meiping in the Percival David Collection (discussed by R. Scott in Imperial Taste - Chinese Ceramics from the Percival David Foundation, San Francisco, 1989, pp. 48-9, no. 23). On the David example, as on the current vase, each facet bears moulded decoration in three separate panels, the central one of which is unglazed. On the shoulder the panels contain a single chrysanthemum spray. However, unlike the current vase, on the David meiping the reserved central quatrefoil panels, unusually, alternately contain a three-flower chrysanthemum spray, or a Daoist immortal among clouds. The Daoist immortal, who holds a double gourd in one hand and a crutch in the other can be identified as Li Tieguai (Iron Crutch Li), one of the Eight Immortals. The David Collection vase is one of those on which tiny traces of gilding can be seen in the deeper sections of the unglazed relief decoration. A further vase of this type depicting the Eight Daoist Immortals, with a crackled glaze and a reduced foot, is in the collection of the British Museum (illustrated in Oriental Ceramics, The World's Great Collections, volume 5, The British Museum, Tokyo, New York and San Francisco, 1981, col. pl. 75). (Fig. 2) Another of these vases is in the collection of the Zwinger Palace, Dresden (illustrated in Farbige Glasuren auf Porzellan, 1990, no. 11). (Fig. 3) An octagonal Longquan celadon meiping of this type is also in the collection of the Phoenix Art Museum, Arizona, while a slightly more elongated vase of similar appearance in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, is illustrated by He Li, in Chinese Ceramics, A New Comprehensive Survey, New York, 1996, p. 187, no. 364. (Fig. 4) A vase of this type, but on which all three panels of each facet have been left unglazed is in the collection of the Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. (see Oriental Ceramics, The World's Great Collections, volume 9, The Freer Gallery of Art, Tokyo, New York and San Francisco, 1981, fig. 77). An octagonal vase of similar type to the current vase, but fully glazed and with the addition of tobi seiji (flying celadon) iron spots, was sold by Christie’s Hong Kong 30 November 2011, lot 3010. Only one other vase of similar size, shape and design, including the iron spots appears to have been published. This is in a Japanese collection (illustrated in Sekai toji zenshu 13 Liao Jin Yuan, Tokyo, 1981, pp. 44-45, No. 32) and, like the current example has immortals depicted in all the central panels, but with iron brown spots around these panels. A smaller vase of this type, also with iron spots is in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing (illustrated in Zhongguo wenwu jinghua daquan - taoci juan, Taipei, 1993, p. 356, no. 626). These last three vases appear to be the only published examples of this type on which the upper panels are shaped like confronted paired fish, rather than being quatrefoil panels.
The figures amongst clouds in the central panels in the current vase represent the Eight Daoist Immortals. In addition to Li Tieguai, mentioned above, the eight comprised Zhongli Quan, Lü Dongbin, Zhang Guolao, Han Xiangzi, Cao Guoqiu, Lan Caihe, and He Xian’gu, most of whom were believed to have lived in the Tang dynasty. These figures were recognised and venerated in the Song dynasty, and appear as a recognisable group in northern China in the Jin dynasty. The emergence of the Eight Immortals as a group accompanied the spread of the Quanzhen Complete Realization sect of Daoism in China during the Jin and succeeding Yuan dynasty.
Although the rulers of north China during the Jin dynasty were Jurchens, the elite adopted Chinese culture and supported the Chinese arts, including theatre. In the Jin dynasty brick-built tombs of Shanxi province, which followed Song traditions, theatre scenes often decorated the walls, including depictions of the Eight Daoist Immortals. A number of such brick tombs with ceramic sculptures, dating to the late 12th and early 13th centuries, have been excavated in the area of Pingyang (present-day Linfen) in southern Shanxi. However, it was in the Yuan dynasty that the Eight Immortals were more widely popularised in literature and began to appear regularly in paintings and, occasionally, in the decorative arts. The Daoist temple known as Yongle Gong (Palace of Eternal Joy) built near the banks of the Yellow River in Shanxi (and moved 15 miles north, piece by piece between 1958 and 1966, to Ruicheng xian in southern Shanxi to save it being flooded by the new Sanmenxia Dam project) was built in honour of Lü Dongbin - one of the Eight Immortals, who was believed to have been born nearby - and its Chunyang dian (Hall of Purified Yang) contains murals depicting the Eight Immortals. Yuan dynasty dramas such Yueyang Pavilion, The Bamboo Raft, and Willow Tree in the South of the City all helped to bring the Eight Immortals to prominence. The Eight Daoist Immortals are, however, relatively rare on Yuan dynasty ceramics, and the small group of octagonal Longquan celadon-glazed vases, to which the current meiping belongs, constitutes important surviving evidence of their early appearance in the decorative arts generally and this medium in particular.