A 'LONGQUAN' MALLET VASE SONG DYNASTY

the slightly tapering cylindrical body rising from a recessed base to an angled shoulder and tall cylindrical neck with a broad dished mouth, set at the neck with a pair of stylised phoenix handles and covered overall in a thick soft bluish-green glaze 

T.T. Tsui Collection .

The Tsui Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1991, pl. 45.

This vase is in good condition, however there is some light scratching to the neck and a minor glaze crack to one of the handles. There is a 5cm vertical firing crack to the body that lies under the glaze, which is not serious but noticable. There are some minor glaze scratches to the body and one glaze hole.
"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."

A slightly larger vase of similar form and also with phoenix-head handles, in the Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka, was included in the exhibition Ice and Green Clouds. Traditions of Chinese Celadon, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, 1987, cat. no. 78 and figs 78a-e; one in the Bishamon-do Temple, Kyoto, is illustrated in G. St. G. M. Gompertz, Chinese Celadon Wares, London 1958, pl. 66; another is illustrated in Longquan Celadon of China, Hangzhou, 1998, pl. 84; and a fourth example was sold at Christie's Hong Kong , 19^th March 1991, lot 509. See also a vase with noticeable crackled glaze, sold at Christie's London, 12^th May 1986, lot 75; and another with a galleried rim, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, published in Lung-ch'uan Ware of the Sung Dynasty, Hong Kong, 1962, pl. 6.

A vase of smaller dimensions, recovered from a ship wrecked off the Sinan coast of Korea in 1323, is illustrated in Relics Salvaged from the Seabed off Sinan. Materials I, Seoul, 1985, pl. 121, no. 171; one from the Edward T. Chow collection was sold in these rooms, 16^th December 1980, lot 300; and another was sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 31^st October 1994, lot 530.

Vases of this type can also be found with dragon-fish handles; for example see one included in the Exhibition of Chinese Art, Palazzo Ducale, Venice, 1954, cat. no. 422, and sold in these rooms, 8^th July 1975, lot 91; and another illustrated in The Freer Gallery of Art I: China, Washington D. C., n. d., pl. 89. With a refined elegance and depth of colour, these vases are known in Japan as Kinuta, where they have been valued since the Kamakura period (see Ice and Green Clouds., op. cit. p. 192).