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Lot Essay
The current agate bowl stand is extremely rare and has a petal-form flange that was specifically made for the Northern Song court and the elite during the 11th-12th centuries. The most known related example is the Ru ware bowl stand in the collection of Sir Percival David (illustrated by R. Scott in Imperial Taste - Chinese Ceramics from the Percival David Foundation, San Francisco and Los Angeles, 1989, p. 17, no. 13), which was probably made for the court of the Northern Song emperor Huizong (r. AD 1100-25). A Southern Song silver bowl stand with petal-form flange is in the collection of the Pengzhou Municipal Museum (illustrated by M. Kopplin (ed.), in The Monochrome Principle - Lacquerware and Ceramics of the Song and Qing Dynasties, Munchen, 2008, p. 120, pl. 7). The use of stands was a practical development for the drinking of hot liquid from tea bowls without handles. In the Zi xia ji (Record of Leisurely Enjoyment) the 9th-century author Li Kuangyi stated that the first bowl stands were made in the Jianzong reign (AD 780-783). However, the earliest bowl stand excavated to date comes from a tomb dating to the Southern Dynasties in Changsha, Hunan province. By the Song dynasty, bowl stands were very popular in various materials such as ceramic, lacquer, and agate.
Agate vessels from the Song dynasty are very rare, and only one other comparable agate bowl stand, slightly larger in size (d. : 18 cm.), from the Jacques and Galilia Hollander's collection was sold at Christie's Paris, 11 December 2013, lot 27 (457.500 euros). A small number of them can be found in the collections of the National Museum of China, the Palace Museum of Beijing, and the National Palace Museum of Taipei. See an agate lobed bowl, from the collection of Baron Eugène Fould-Springer (1876-1929), dated Song dynasty or later, with Chinese silver mounting this time, sold at Bonhams Hong Kong, 30 May 2017, lot 103 (2.880.000 hkd).
The Northern Song dynasty represents one of the major peaks of intense antiquarian interest in China's history, some imperial agate pieces were also produced during the Yongzheng and Qianlong's reigns with inspiration from ancient shapes and contemporary techniques and aesthetics. However, we now know that agate bowls and bowl stands from the Song dynasty of the Qing imperial collection were sometimes carved with the emperor's mark during the Qing dynasty.
The silver mounting of the our current agate bowl stand bears the name of the marchand-éditeur and boutique L'Escalier de Cristal, named after the crystal staircase it housed, who supplied furniture, works of art and all manner of objets de luxe including clocks, vases and bibelot from showrooms in rue Auber, in the fashionable area of L'Opéra. Acquired in 1839 by M. Lahoche, the firm passed to his son-in-law, Emile Pannier, around 1864-66. In 1885, Georges and Henry Pannier succeeded their father and are recorded to have bought in 1890 design sketches from the collection of the late Édouard Lièvre: celebrated designer in ‘le style japonais et chinois’. Even if the previous European owners probably ignored the actual function of this vessel at the end of the 19th century, they must have cherished it by asking the French silver maker Paul Canaux & Cie to design the elegant silver mounting. The borders are delicately enveloped by the silver plate and the stylized openwork flower beautifully complements the petals of our current bowl stand: the original agate stand is at the same time embellished and protected this way, embodying a perfect example of the dialogue between the Literati Chinese culture and the elegant French aesthetics.
Agate vessels from the Song dynasty are very rare, and only one other comparable agate bowl stand, slightly larger in size (d. : 18 cm.), from the Jacques and Galilia Hollander's collection was sold at Christie's Paris, 11 December 2013, lot 27 (457.500 euros). A small number of them can be found in the collections of the National Museum of China, the Palace Museum of Beijing, and the National Palace Museum of Taipei. See an agate lobed bowl, from the collection of Baron Eugène Fould-Springer (1876-1929), dated Song dynasty or later, with Chinese silver mounting this time, sold at Bonhams Hong Kong, 30 May 2017, lot 103 (2.880.000 hkd).
The Northern Song dynasty represents one of the major peaks of intense antiquarian interest in China's history, some imperial agate pieces were also produced during the Yongzheng and Qianlong's reigns with inspiration from ancient shapes and contemporary techniques and aesthetics. However, we now know that agate bowls and bowl stands from the Song dynasty of the Qing imperial collection were sometimes carved with the emperor's mark during the Qing dynasty.
The silver mounting of the our current agate bowl stand bears the name of the marchand-éditeur and boutique L'Escalier de Cristal, named after the crystal staircase it housed, who supplied furniture, works of art and all manner of objets de luxe including clocks, vases and bibelot from showrooms in rue Auber, in the fashionable area of L'Opéra. Acquired in 1839 by M. Lahoche, the firm passed to his son-in-law, Emile Pannier, around 1864-66. In 1885, Georges and Henry Pannier succeeded their father and are recorded to have bought in 1890 design sketches from the collection of the late Édouard Lièvre: celebrated designer in ‘le style japonais et chinois’. Even if the previous European owners probably ignored the actual function of this vessel at the end of the 19th century, they must have cherished it by asking the French silver maker Paul Canaux & Cie to design the elegant silver mounting. The borders are delicately enveloped by the silver plate and the stylized openwork flower beautifully complements the petals of our current bowl stand: the original agate stand is at the same time embellished and protected this way, embodying a perfect example of the dialogue between the Literati Chinese culture and the elegant French aesthetics.