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29. LARGE QINGBAI PORCELAIN JUG AND BASIN
Song dynasty (960-…
See original version (French)
29
-
29. LARGE QINGBAI PORCELAIN JUG AND BASIN
Song dynasty (960-…
See original version (French)
Estimate €30,000 - €50,000
Voluntary lot
Description
29. LARGE QINGBAI PORCELAIN JUG AND BASIN
Song dynasty (960-1279)
A RARE QINGBAI WINE EWER AND WARMING BASIN
Song Dynasty
The ewer with an ovoid body divided into six lobes, set with a strap handle opposite a short arched spout, a shaped foliate motif carved beneath the handle and spout, the slightly domed cover similarly divided into lobes and set with a small sprig as a knob, the deep basin raised on a high foot and divided into seven lobes each finely incised with stylized floral decoration, the ewer, cover and basin covered overall save for the bases with a lustrous blue-tinged transparent glaze.
The ewer: 17 cm (6 3/4 in.) high;
the basin: 16.3 cm (6 3/8 in.) diam. (3).
Provenance:
John Sparks, London (according to label).
A Swedish collection (by repute).
Antik West, Gothenburg.
Property from a Belgian family collection, by descent in the family.
宋 青白釉執壺及溫盌
來源
倫敦古董商John Sparks（據標簽）
瑞典私人收藏（傳）
瑞典哥德堡古董商Antik West
比利時家族藏品，家族傳承
This melon-shaped ewer and its matching warming basin were made in one of the 136 kilns operating in Jingdezhen in Jiangxi province, south-eastern China, during the Song and Yuan dynasties. Distinguished by their pure white body and light bluish translucent glaze with its brilliant surface, this ewer and basin represent Qingbai wares. Unlike other wares of the Song dynasty, the name Qingbai ('blue-white') wares, also known as Yingqing ('shadow blue') wares, take their name from the cool blue colour of their glaze and do not refer to the region or kiln where these wares were produced. Qing (green) and bai (white) describe the distinctive features of their appearance: the alluring light blue tones of the lustrous translucent glaze which complements the dazzlingly white porcelaneous body beneath. In his treatise Tao ji (Ceramic Records), the Southern Song historian Jiang Qi records that white porcelain produced in Jingdezhen in Jiangxi province was so refined and pure that it was known as raoyu (Jade of Rao), the region in which the Jingdezhen kilns were located. Among the kilns in Jingdezhen district, the most significant was the Hutian kiln as it had the largest scale and longest historical span of porcelain production ranging from the Five Dynasties to the Ming Dynasty.
Intended for serving warmed wine, this elegant ewer, its fitted cover, and warming basin form a rare, complete set of what was once standard tableware for middle- and upper-class Northern Song society. Thinly potted and delicately formed, the translucent hardness of Qingbai ware made these wares extremely serviceable. Their utility and aesthetic refinement appealed to a wide market both domestic and foreign.
Feasting and banqueting were an integral social and ritual activity in Song life. By the 12th century, the new Song capital, Lin'an (Hangzhou), had replaced Bianliang as the world's largest city, with around one million inhabitants. Here hundreds of teahouses, bars, high-end restaurants, and noodle shops were patronized by literati, who ate and drank in private dining rooms. Such was the importance of convivial gatherings and banquets that scenes of feasts and banquets were depicted in the realms of both the dead as well as the living, appearing in tombs of the Liao and Song dynasties as well as paintings commissioned by wealthy patrons of the period. High-ranking tombs of the Liao and Song dynasties were often decorated with large murals and stocked with goods for use in the afterlife. Scenes of banqueting as well as the inclusion of the accoutrements of the feast, ensured that the soul of the deceased would be nourished and honoured for eternity. The utensils used in feasts and banquets of the time included a range of vessels made in ceramic, porcelain, gold, silver and lacquer and often included ewers and warming basins similar to the lot offered here (Figs. 2 and 3). A mural in the Liao dynasty tomb of Zhang Shiqing discovered in Xuanhua, Hebei, depicts the preparation for a banquet and includes two ewers in their warming basin, see Xuanhua Liao mu bihua, Beijing, 2001, col. pl. 60. A melon-shaped ewer and basin were discovered in a Liao dynasty tomb in Inner Mongolia, dated 1099 (Figs. 1a and 1b), illustrated in Neimenggu chutu wenwu xiji, Beijing, 1963, pp. 86 and 87.
A Northern Song dynasty Qingbai ewer with a cover surmounted by a seated lion, together with a lobed, petal-rimmed warming basin, was excavated in 2004 at Shangdang, Dantu county, Zhenjiang city, and is illustrated in Zhongguo chutu ciqi quanji, vol. 7, Jiangsu Shanghai, Beijing, 2008, no. 116. Another, very similar Qingbai ewer and warming basin were discovered in a tomb dated to the Liao/Northern Song dynasty in Datangzhuang, Miyun, Hebei, (Fig. 3), illustrated in Miyun Datangzhuang. Baihe liucheng gudai muzang fajue baogao, Shanghai, 2010, col.pl. 18:1-3. Compare also with a very similar ewer, cover and warming basin in the collection of the British Museum, London (accession no. 1936.1 012.153).
See original version (French)
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