A rare large qingbai 'boys' meiping, Southern Song dynasty | 南宋　青白釉劃童子花卉紋梅瓶

Outstanding for the deftly carved design of large figures of boys playing amongst scrolling vines, it is especially rare to find qingbai vases of such large proportions decorated with this scene which more commonly adorned smaller surfaces such as bowls and dishes. The combed lines of the background add structure and variation to the design, allowing the figures to stand out as if in relief.

The present vase distinguishes itself with its robust and confidently carved decoration. Qingbai wares ranged from thin and delicate to more stoutly potted forms such as the present example. Produced at a number of kilns in the provinces of Jiangxi, Fujian and Anhui, qingbai ware, also known as yingqing, refers not to the locales where the kilns were located but to their appearance. Qing (green) and bai (white) denote the alluring pale blue-green tones of the brilliant translucent glaze which so effectively complimented the white porcelaneous body beneath. The Southern Song ceramic historian Jiang Qi notes in his treatise Tao ji (Ceramic Records) that white porcelain produced in Jingdezhen in Jiangxi province was so refined and pure that it was known as raoyu (Jade of Rao), the region in which the Jingdezhen kilns were located. With some kiln modification, it is probable that these wares served as the foundation for the blue-and-white porcelain tradition of China from the 14th century onward. Although the early potters at Jingdezhen may have modelled their earliest qingbai pieces on Yue ware, by the Five Dynasties and Northern Song periods they often looked to Ding ware for aesthetic inspiration. This inspiration is perhaps evident on the present vase with its swift, confident lines of carving.

Compare a related vase of this type, but preserved with a cover and decorated with smaller figures of boys, in the Art Institute of Chicago, illustrated in Chinese Ceramics in the West, Tokyo, 1960, pl. 54, and again in Splendour of Chinese Art. Selections from the Collections of T.T. Tsui Galleries of Chinese Art Worldwide, Hong Kong, 1996, pl. 100. See also a similar but smaller meiping (28.6 cm) carved with large boys among lotus scrolls on a combed ground, also from the collection of Sakamoto Goro, sold in these rooms, 29th October 2024, lot 607; and another similar example, probably excavated from the ruins of the Hosshō-ji, Kyoto, and now in the Kyoto National Museum, illustrated in Hasebe Gakuji, ed., Sekai tōji zenshū/Ceramic Art of the World, vol. 12: Sō/Sung Dynasty, Tokyo, 1977, col. pl. 270, and in Hasebe Gakuji and Imai Atsushi, Chūgoku no tōji/Chinese Ceramics, vol. 12: Nihon shutsudo no Chūgoku tōji/Chinese Ceramics Excavated in Japan, Tokyo, 1995, col. pl. 57. See also a baluster vase with a flared foliate mouth, also carved with boys playing among scrolling peonies and camellias, all against a similar combed ground, in the Meiyintang collection, illustrated in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, vol. 1, London, 1994, pl. 608.

Designs depicting two or three small boys climbing stems of flowers were popular on a variety of objects and media including silver, bronze, textile, jade and various types of ceramics from the late Tang dynasty onwards. Jan Wirgin, in Sung Ceramic Designs, Goteborg, 1970, pp 179-184, discusses the origin of the design, suggesting it is an amalgamation and reinterpretation of Indian cave paintings of boys and the Buddhist motif of children representing reborn souls seated on lotus flowers from the Tang dynasty. Wirgin states that the main cause for the marked popularity of boys and flowers as a decorative motif was undoubtedly being its symbolic significance, which refers to the hope for numerous sons and abundance (p. 181).

For qingbai bowls carved with boys amongst scrolling vines, see one from the Kai-Yin Lo collection, included in the exhibition Bright as Silver, White as Snow, Denver Art Museum, Denver, 1998, cat. no. 39; and another published in Sekai toji zenshu, vol. 12, Tokyo, 1977, pls 162 and 163. Compare also qingbai meiping vases carved in a similar style with scrolling leaves and flowers against a combed background, for example in the Art Institute of Chicago, illustrated ibid., pl. 167; and in the Sichuan Provincial Museum, included in Zhongguo taoci quanji [The complete works of Chinese ceramics], vol. 8, Shanghai, 1999, pl. 179.

梅瓶滿刻卷草童子紋，靈動活潑。以此圖案裝飾之青白瓷一般以盌盤等較小型器物為多，器大如此例者極稀。本器劃篦紋為地，疏密有致、變化豐富，添刻童子更顯立體生動，猶如浮雕。

此例以手刻花紋飾大器，遒勁俐落，青白瓷有薄巧細密者，亦有較厚重堅緻者如此瓶。青白瓷非以其產地得名，而是因其青白相映、瑩潤恬靜的色澤著稱，胎質細膩潔白，又稱為「影青」、「映青」，出於贛閩皖三省，南宋蔣祈所著《陶記》中描述江西景德鎮所製佳瓷如美玉，「景德陶昔三百餘座。埏埴之器，潔白不疵，故鬻於他所，皆有饒玉之稱」。青白瓷後經改良可能成為青花瓷之濫觴，早期景德鎮陶匠或以越窰為發端，時至五代北宋，則轉取法定窰之美，本器劃花飽滿流暢，或可為證。

比較芝加哥美術館藏相類帶蓋梅瓶，圖見《歐美蒐藏中国陶磁図録》，東京，1960年，圖版54，後再錄於《海內外徐展堂中國藝術館藏品選萃》，香港，1996年，圖版100。另有一尺寸較小之例（28.6公分），紋飾相若，篦紋地上添刻纏枝蓮紋，間綴嬰童較大，曾同屬坂本五郎珍藏，2024年10月29日在香港蘇富比拍出，編號607。且參考現藏日本京都國立博物館一例，同刻纏枝蓮花童子紋，應出土自京都法勝寺遺跡，收入長谷部樂爾等編，《世界陶磁全集》，卷12，宋，東京，1977年，彩色圖版270，以及長谷部樂爾及今井敦, 《中國之陶磁》，卷12：日本出土之中國陶磁，東京，1995年，彩色圖版57。玫茵堂典藏也有一篦紋地劇嬰戲牡丹紋葉口瓶，錄於康蕊君，《玫茵堂中國陶瓷》，卷1，倫敦，1994年，圖版608。

三兩小兒攀爬於花叢之紋飾，流行自唐代晚期以降，多見於銀、銅、織品、玉器及瓷器。據 Jan Wirgin 述，其源應詮釋重組自印度洞窟壁畫，以及唐代佛教紋飾主題，以嬰孩坐蓮代表靈魂輪迴重生，見《Sung Ceramic Designs》，哥德堡，1970年，頁179-184。作者論述，嬰孩花卉紋飾之流行，主要源於其多子多福之美好寓意（頁181）。

相關之卷草童子紋青白盌，可參考出自羅啟妍典藏，曾展於《如銀似雪》，丹佛美術館，丹佛，1998年，編號39；另一盌例，錄於《世界陶磁全集》，卷12，東京，1977年，圖版162及163。參考青白梅瓶兩例，同以篦紋地刻相類卷草花紋，其一為芝加哥美術館館藏，出處同上，圖版167；其二為四川省博物館館藏，見《中國陶瓷全集》，卷8 ：宋（下），上海，1999年，圖版179。