A rare Guan three-tiered pyramidal vase, Song dynasty or later | 宋或以後 官窰粉青釉三登方壺

Collection of Zhang Yanzhou, acquired from a Canton collection in the late 1930s, and thence by descent.

張雁洲收藏，1930年代末購於一廣東收藏，此後家族傳承

Zhongguo gudai wenwu zhanlanhui [Chinese ancient cultural relics], Northcote College of Education, Hong Kong, 1947, cat. no. 19.

《中國古代文物展覽會》，羅富國師資學院，香港，1947年，編號19

Produced for the imperial palace in the Southern Song dynasty in the capital, Hangzhou in Zhejiang province, guan (‘official’) ware was the court’s replacement of the highly celebrated Ru ware from the Northern Song dynasty. Despite - or by virtue of - being mentioned and lauded in the contemporary literature of the Southern Song dynasty, guan ware remains to this day among the highly prized yet most enigmatic ceramic wares of China’s history.

From as early as the Southern Song dynasty, in the capital itself, the fabled ‘crackled’ ware was produced - or imitated - in at least two kiln centres, though one cannot ascertain whether either or both of these kilns worked directly for the court. Ts’ai He-Pi also evoked the possibility of the existence of one or even more kilns to be identified at the Southern Song guan ware conference, Nan Song guanyao wenji/A Collection of Essays on Southern Song Dynasty Guan Kiln, Beijing, 2004, pp. 1-13. Unlike other important Song kiln centres where series production enabled craftsmen to create thousands of almost identical pieces, guan wares are marked by variation, further complicating the identification and understanding of these wares.

Potted with a three-tiered pyramidal body resting on a short footing, the current vase is covered with a thick greyish-blue glaze suffused with a network of crackles, all stopping neatly around the footring to reveal the dark brown stoneware body. No other similar example in private hands appears to be recorded although two comparable tiered vases are now preserved in the Palace Museum, Taipei, nos guci 17705 and 13487, illustrated in the The Special Exhibition of Sung Dynasty Kuan Ware, Palace Museum, Taipei, 1989, cat. nos 3 and 4 respectively, the former from the imperial collection of the Qianlong Emperor and further bearing an incised imperial poem dated to the guisi year of the Qianlong reign (in accordance with 1773), illustrating the Emperor’s fascination with guan wares.

See also a Southern Song to Yuan dynasty stepped vase in the Palace Museum, Taipei, no. guci 16930, but with a less pyramidal body between a flared mouth-rim and foot, also from the imperial collection and incised on the base with an imperial poem by the Qianlong Emperor extolling the shape of the vase and likening it to ancient altars, included in Precious as the Morning Star: 12th-14th Century Celadons in the Qing Court Collection, Palace Museum, Taipei, cat. no. II-48. In addition to having a more squarish body, the example from the Palace Museum, Taipei, differs from the current vase in that its footring is dressed with an ochre wash.

For an example with a similar tactile crackled glaze similarly stopping neatly around the footring to showcase the dark brown stoneware body, see a Southern Song dynasty guan octagonal vase sold in these rooms, 7th April 2015, lot 1 from a Japanese collection.

The present vase comes from the collection of Zhang Yanzhou and was included in Zhongguo gudai wenwu zhanlanhui [Chinese ancient cultural relics] exhibition in 1947, in which 81 pieces from his collection were included.

浙江杭州為南宋宮廷產瓷，世稱「官窰」，乃北宋汝窰名品之替代。官窰瓷於南宋文獻實有記載且不乏讚譽，今時亦備受推崇，然中國陶瓷林林總總，官窰瓷之考辨尤耐人尋味。

早自南宋起，都城臨安內便已有不下兩處窰業中心，所燒瓷器帶「開片紋」，然此二窰口是否專供宮廷則未有定論。蔡和璧提出，南宋官窰或有不止一處窰址，詳見《南宋官窰文集》，北京，2004年，頁1-13。宋代其他主要窰口多作量燒，產瓷千件可千篇一律，官窰則不同，富有變化，是故剖判官窰瓷更為複雜。

此方壺作三登式，矮圈足，釉色灰青稠厚，滿佈片紋，施釉至足邊，足緣露胎，呈黑褐色。私人所藏未有類例見載，惟台北故宮蓄有三登方壺兩件，編號故瓷17705、13487，錄《宋官窰特展》，故宮博物院，台北，1989年，編號3、4，前者乃乾隆舊藏，帶御題詩，署癸巳年（1773暨乾隆三十八年），可見乾隆帝對此類官窰瓷之喜愛。

另比一南宋至元三登方壺，藏故宮博物院，台北，編號故瓷16930，器身各層大小趨同，口沿、圈足皆作外撇，仍為清宮舊藏，底亦刻有乾隆御題詩，讚其器形與古代祭臺相似，載《貴似晨星：清宮傳世12至14世紀青瓷特展》，故宮博物院，台北，編號II-48。較之此件，台北故宮例除器形不同外，足端亦刷赭汁，與此件有別。

論釉層開片、施釉至足邊且露黑褐色胎，可比一官窰青釉八方瓶，日本雅藏，售於香港蘇富比2015年4月7日，編號1。

此方壺為張雁洲舊藏；1947年，香港舉辦《中國古代文物展覽會》，其中81件文物為張雁洲所蓄，此方壺便在其列。