A rare Yue celadon owl-shaped box and cover Six dynasties | 六朝 越窰青釉鴟鴞形蓋盒

Collection of Dr Carl Kempe (1884-1967), no. CK13.

Sotheby's London, 5th November 2008, lot 541 (part lot).

卡爾肯普博士（1884-1967年）收藏，編號CK13

倫敦蘇富比2008年11月5日，編號541（其一）

Bo Gyllensvärd, Chinese Ceramics in the Carl Kempe Collection, Stockholm, 1964, pl. 13.

Oriental Ceramics. The World's Great Collections: Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockholm, vol. 8, Tokyo, 1982, pl. 21.

Chinese Ceramic Treasures. A Selection from the Ulricehamn East Asian Museum, Including the Carl Kempe Collection, Ulricehamn, 2002, pl. 236.

Bo Gyllensvärd，《Chinese Ceramics in the Carl Kempe Collection》，斯德哥爾摩，1964年，圖版13

《東洋陶瓷大觀》，卷8：斯德哥爾摩東亞博物館，東京，1982年，圖版21

《博物館珍藏的精品：中國陶器及其它》，烏爾里瑟港，2002年，圖

This irresistibly modelled owl vessel, its surface textured by stamping, pricking and incising, is a rare individually fashioned example from kilns in the Yue region of northern Zhejiang, which otherwise tended to produce in quantity. Gyllensvärd duly featured it in one of the very few large illustrations in his catalogue.

See a related Yue celadon 'owl' vessel and cover, attributed to the Western Jin dynasty, illustrated in Special Exhibition of Early Chinese Greenware: Principally Yueh Ware, National Museum of History, Taipei, 1996, pl. 42; it has a taller and more robust body, but the glaze is not as lustrous as the present piece. The author mentions that the 'owl' form has long been recorded in China since the Neolithic period, for example, a Yangshao culture owl-shaped pottery vessel unearthed in Shaanxi. The present 'owl' vessel possibly also draws inspiration from archaic bronze wine vessels, zun, from the Shang (16th century-c.1046 BC) and Western Zhou (c.1046-771 BC) dynasties, where owl form and motifs were common and widespread. Compare also a Yue celadon 'beast' vessel, recovered from a Westen Jin tomb dated to year 302 and now preserved in the Nanjing Museum. Both Western Jin vessels mentioned above have feet or talons applied several centimetres above the flat base, and are decorated with similar loop handles; these two particular decorative features can also be found in the present piece.

本鴞形蓋盒別緻精巧，器面挑劃羽翼紋飾，並壓印圈紋。本品獨具一格，實為浙北越窰珍罕佳作，同類器物應為數不多。瑞典學者 Bo Gyllensvärd 亦於1964年圖錄中，少見地刊載鴞形蓋盒的大型插圖。

可參考一相類西晉越窰青釉鴟鴞形蓋尊例，其器身較高，釉色不及本品凝潤，錄於《千峯翠色：越窰特展》，國立歷史博物館，台北，1996年，圖版42。書中指出鴞形器例淵源已久，早見於新石器時代，如仰韶文化陶鴞鼎。本品器形或從商周青銅鴞尊取得靈感。另可參考一西晉越窰青釉神獸尊，南京博物院藏，此器及上述西晉青釉鴞尊，獸爪均作不著地的設計，腹以下漸收成平底，亦貼相類繫耳，與本品相似。