A RARE ARCHAISTIC BEIGE JADE VASE, SONG - MING DYNASTY

C.T. Loo, New York, 1st December 1943.

Collection of Stephen Junkunc, III (d. 1978).

來源

盧芹齋，紐約，1943年12月1日

史蒂芬•瓊肯三世（1978年逝）收藏

The stylized taotie on the present vase resembles the decoration on Western Zhou bronze vessels. Compare the large spirals at the lower body with those on a Western Zhou bronze hu, illustrated in Zhongguo wenwu jinghua dajuan, qingtong juan / Compedium of Chinese Art Bronzes, Taipei, 1993, pl. 548. For a Song dynasty vase of squatter form and lacking mask handles, but also carved with the taotie motif, see one illustrated in 'The Arts of the Sung Dynasty’, vol. 32, London, 1960, pl. 273.

Compare a related vase, carved with animal-mask handles but with a frieze of petals on the body, sold at Christie's New York, 24th March 2011, lot 1684. Related vases carved with elephant-mask handles and archaistic rope-twist decoration and attributed to the Song dynasty are also known; see one from the Sackler Collection included in the Oriental Ceramic Society's exhibition and illustrated in 'Chinese Jade Throughout the Ages', Oriental Ceramic Society 1973-1974, vol. 40, London, 1976, pl. 275, and another from the collection of Desmond Gure, illustrated in S. Howard Hansford, Chinese Carved Jades, London, 1968, pl. 74. Compare also an example with mask handles and low-relief scrolls, attributed to the Ming dynasty, exhibited in Great National Treasures of China: Special Exhibition in Kaohsiung City Loaned by the National Palace Museum's Seventieth Anniversary, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1994, cat. no. 75. A related jade vase with lug handles, attributed to the Ming dynasty, was included in the exhibition Chinese Jade Carving, Hong Kong Museum of Art, 1983, cat. no. 212.

A vase of similar form but with the beast masks suspending loose rings and the vessel more intricately carved with Eastern Zhou-style bronze decoration, attributed to the Song or Yuan dynasty, is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Jadeware II, vol. 41, Hong Kong, 1995, pl. 114. 

此壺壺身饕餮紋原型可見於西周青銅器，如見一西周青銅壺所飾之饕餮紋，載於《中國文物精華大全•青銅卷》，台北，1993年，圖版548。參考一相類玉仿古壺例，斷代宋，器型略扁寬，無耳，飾饕餮紋，展於東方陶瓷學會展覽，並載於〈The Arts of the Sung Dynasty〉，卷32，倫敦，1960年，圖版90，圖273。

另參考一相類玉仿古雙耳壺例，售紐約佳士得2011年3月24日，編號1684。亦見一類玉壺例，象耳，飾仿古索紋，斷代宋，如一例為賽克勒收藏，展於東方陶瓷學會展覽，並載於〈Chinese Jade Throughout the Ages〉，《Transactions of the Oriental Ceramic Society 1973-1974》，卷40，倫敦，1976年，圖版275；另一例為 Desmond Gure 收藏，載 S. Howard Hansford，《Chinese Carved Jades》，倫敦，1968年，圖版74。再見一白玉例，雕舖首耳，飾仿古索紋及勾雲紋，斷代明，展《國之重寶特展圖錄》，國立故宮博物院，台北，1994年，編號75。亦見一例，貫耳，斷代明，展《中國玉雕》，香港藝術館，1983年，編號212。

再可參考一玉仿古龍紋活環尊例，斷代宋或元，藏北京故宮博物院，載《故宮博物院藏文物珍品全集•玉器（中）》，香港，1995年，圖版114。