AN EXTREMELY RARE AND IMPORTANT BLUE AND WHITE JAR AND COVER YUAN DYNASTY

THIS IS A PREMIUM LOT. CLIENTS WHO WISH TO BID ON PREMIUM LOTS ARE REQUESTED TO COMPLETE THE PREMIUM LOT PRE-REGISTRATION 3 WORKING DAYS PRIOR TO THE SALE.

superbly potted, the wide shouldered baluster body rising to an upright neck and a galleried mouth, the body confidently painted in a spacious and dynamic composition masterfully balanced in carefully controlled cobalt-blue with a broad band of six scrolling peonies seen from the front, the side and the back, each bloom finely articulated with petals and leaves lightly incised to allow for subtle veining, all borne on a continous undulating leafy stem, below six cloud-shaped lappets, each containing a white flying haima ('sea horse') reserved on a wave ground, the shoulders further set with a pair of applied high-relief lion mask handles, the menacing-looking beasts each with a ferocious grin and long wispy painted beard, pierced on the side of the mouth to possibly hold a ring handle, the shoulders wreathed by a band of scrolling lotus flowers, all set between a row of classic scroll collaring the neck and another one encircling the foot above a band of upright lappets, fitted with a domed cover applied with an animated lion finial seated upon a lotus base, encircled by concentric bands of classic scroll and lappets

Toyo no sometsuke, Mitsukoshi Department Store, Tokyo, 1977, cat.no.11.
So Gen no bijutsu, Osaka Municipal Art Museum, 1978, cat.no.1/225.
Gen no sometsuke ten/Exhibition of Blue and White Wares in Yuan Dynasty: 14^th Century.
Ching-te Chen Wares, Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka, 1985, cat.no.3.

Toji taikei, vol.41: Tokyo, 1974, col.pl.14.
Mayuyama: Seventy Years, vol.1, Tokyo, 1976, pl.684.
Sato Masahiko, Chugoku toji shi, Tokyo, 1978, translated as Chinese Ceramics. A Short History, New York, 1981, pl.228.
So Gen no bijutsu, Tokyo 1980, col.pl.1.
Sekai toji zenshu/Ceramic Art of the World, vol.13, Tokyo, 1981, col.pl.53.
Ye Peilan, Yuandai ciqi, Beijing, 1998, col.pl.58.

The overall condition is very good apart from a few long stained glaze crackles near the foot, which can be cleaned, some minor rim fritting around mouth and some natural wear on the rim from the cover rubbing against it. There are minor crackles at the joints and luting lines. The interior of the neck has a horizontal firing crack running allong a luting line. The base has a few firing flaws, the largest one being two shallow 0.3cm holes. The cover has 1 chip to the petal of the lotus base, which appears to have occured before the firing, as the exposed body material has fired orange. There is also chips to both eyebrows of the lion, a small chip to the brocade ribbon and another one on the right paw. There is a crack on the cover at the base of the dome at the joint to the brim extending the length of four lappets (extending from the proper right of the lion towards the back of the cover). The cobalt color is slightly greyer than the jar and the glaze is a bit matte, due to the piece possibly submerged under water for a period of time. The actual color is about 5% grayer than in the catalogue illustration.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

The Illustrious Flying Haima Jar
Regina Krahl

The present jar is one of the most published Yuan jars in private collections. Its design of white horses crossing waves is otherwise extremely rare and the animals are strikingly depicted in lively, naturalistic poses. Jars with covers are almost non-existent in private hands and the present cover, with its expressively modelled lion finial, is hard to match in any collection. Even the rendering of the peonies - a relatively common design on Yuan blue-and-white - is here particularly elaborate, with careful shading and finely combed detail.

Horses were in China revered as animals of perseverance and speed and pure white horses were particularly highly regarded. Horses played a major role at the Mongol court, which is also known for its predilection of the colour white. The unusual motif of white horses emitting flames and crossing waves is first seen on ceramics in the Yuan dynasty. According to lore, a dragon devoured the white horse of the Tang dynasty priest Xuanzang, who travelled to India to bring back Buddhist scriptures. On orders from Guanyin, the Goddess of Mercy, the dragon then had to turn himself into a white horse in order to carry back the sacred books. This association of the horse with the dragon probably explains the flames as well as the waves surrounding these horses.

A similar jar without cover, with the horses all galloping, and with two dragons replacing the lotus scroll at the shoulder, is preserved in the Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul, from the collection of the Ottoman Sultans, published in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul, London, 1986, vol.2, no.586, illustrated in colour p.407 (fig.1); also illustrated next to the present jar in Ye Peilan, op.cit., pl.59. Another jar without cover, of similar design but with petal panels around the shoulder is in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, illustrated in Sir Harry Garner, Oriental Blue and White, London, 1973 (1954), pl.21 (fig. 2); and a third, also with petal panels but lacking its neck, from the collection of G. Rogers and later in a Japanese collection was sold in our London rooms, 3 December 1963, lot 93 (fig. 3).

The design of white horses among waves appears also on a vase of meiping shape in the Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul, see Krahl, op.cit., no.585 (fig. 4).

Two related jars with waterfowl and lotus similarly reserved in white in wave-filled panels, both missing neck and cover, were sold in our London rooms, 11 July 1967, lot 92, and 6 June 1995, lot 208, respectively; and two pairs of meiping vases with white lotus only among waves in ruyi-shaped panels were excavated in China, one from a hoard at Jurong, Jiangsu province, the other from the Gaoan hoard in Jiangxi, see Zhongguo ciqi quanji, vol.11, Shanghai, 2000, pls.139, 140, 143 and 146.

Covers with lion finials are extremely rare and the lions tend to be rendered much more simply; compare two covers with seated lions on top, one on a blue-and-white jar excavated at Huaian, Jiangsu province, the other on a blue-and-red decorated jar from the Baoding hoard in Hebei province, both illustrated in Ye Peilan, op.cit., pls.52 and 154.