An important blue and white appliqué-decorated 'dragon' lamp stand, Vietnam, Lê dynasty, dated to the second year of Vĩnh Trị, corresponding to 1677 | 越南 黎朝 永治二年（1677年） 青花貼龍紋燈架 《范千財造》款

Masuda collection- Two thousand years of Vietnam ware history (舛田コレクションヴェトナム陶磁の二千年), Machida City Museum, Tokyo, 2013, cat. no. 409.

__________________________________________________________________________

《 舛田收藏：兩千年越南陶瓷 》，町田市歷史博物館，東京，2013年，編號409

The present lamp stand is representative of a rare and important group of altar wares produced during the late 16^th and 17^th centuries. Arriving in Vietnam with the Ming invasion of 1407, blue and white motifs have long been the decoration of choice for domestic and exported Vietnamese ceramics. Well attested among pieces excavated from the famous 15^th century Hội An Shipwreck, these fine wares – glowing in a rich palette of cobalt blue – were produced in large quantities for foreign trade and remain beloved in Japan as Annan-yaki (‘Annan wares’).

However, this relative calm and prosperity was not to last. Following decades of civil war and unrest, by 1533, Vietnam found itself divided in two under the rule of rival Mạc and Lê dynasties. While academic understanding of this chaotic period and its impact remains incomplete, archaeological studies of major kilns sites confirm that this instability resulted in a sharp contraction of ceramic production and a turn towards a smaller more elite domestic market. Thus, in place of earlier mass-produced table wares, potters of the late 16^th and 17^th centuries focused primarily on the production of large and unique altar wares for wealthy benefactors and Buddhist temples. Embracing classical motifs in underglaze blue but improvising in the addition of bold sprig-moulded designs of flora and fauna, these rare and monumental vessels were made in a small number of established ritual forms and were often inscribed with dates, auspicious blessings, and the names of their donors.

Compare an almost identical lamp stand – possibly a pair to the present lot – similarly inscribed with a ‘Vĩnh Trị Second Year’ reign mark, preserved in the Tokyo National Museum, Tokyo, acc. no. TG-2731; a closely related pair, inscribed with reign marks corresponding to 1579, preserved in the Musée national des arts asiatiques - Guimet, Paris; another pair, dated corresponding to 1589, in the British Museum, London, illustrated in Jessica Harrison-Hall, 'Vietnamese Ceramics in the British Museum', Apollo, November 2002, 3-11, fig. 19; and another stand in the National Museum of Vietnamese History, Hanoi (acc. no. LSb 13771), dated corresponding to 1580, included in the exhibition Arts of Ancient Viet Nam: From River Plain to Open Sea, Asia Society Museum, New York, 2010.

__________________________________________________________________________

此燭臺為一組極為珍稀且重要的祭壇器皿，製作於十六世紀末至十七世紀間。自1407年明朝入侵越南以來，青花裝飾便成為越南本土及外銷陶瓷的主要風格。在著名的十五世紀會安沉船中出土的大量精美青花器皿中，這些器物以濃郁的鈷藍色調聞名，並且廣泛出口至日本，被稱為「安南窯」，深受當地喜愛。

然而，此繁榮期並未持久。隨著數十年的內戰與動盪，到1533年，越南被分裂為由莫氏和黎氏朝代統治的南北兩地。儘管學界對這一時期的影響尚未完全掌握，但主要窯址的考古研究顯示，此不穩定局勢導致陶瓷生產急劇縮減，市場轉向少量的高端國內需求。因此，十六至十七世紀的陶工主要為善人布施訂製及佛教廟宇大型祭壇器皿製作。其沿用傳統的青花紋飾，並大膽加入貼塑，如花草與龍紋裝飾，樣式僅限於少數固定的儀式用具，且多帶有紀年、吉祥祝福及布施者銘文。

參考一件幾相同的燭臺——可能與此件成對——其上刻有「永治二年」年款，現藏於東京國立博物館 (館藏編號TG-2731)；另有一對相關燭臺，刻有1579年年款，現藏於巴黎吉美國博物館；另有一對刻有1589年年份的燭臺，現藏於倫敦大英博物館，見Jessica Harrison-Hall《大英博物館中的越南陶瓷》，載於《Apollo》雜誌，2002年11月，頁3-11頁，圖19；此外，另有一件標示1580年的燭臺，現藏於河內越南國家歷史博物館(館藏編號LSb 13771)，並曾於2010年紐約亞洲協會藝術館「古代越南藝術：從河流平原到開放海洋」展覽中展出。