- 65
五代 / 北宋 青釉刻蓮瓣紋五管瓶
估價
500,000 - 700,000 USD
招標截止
描述
- ceramic
類似本拍品的五管瓶為龍泉窯獨有。龍泉青瓷博物館收藏一件五管瓶，蓋內墨書「張氏五娘，五穀倉櫃，上應天宮，下應地中，陰（蔭）子益孫，長命富貴」，說明五管瓶當時名為五穀倉。龍泉地區方言中管與穀發音相近，五管有五穀豐登之意。日本奈良大和文華館珍藏一件五管瓶，製於公元1080年，燒製前刻有銘文：「元豐三年又九月十五圓日，增添福壽，……進與何十二婆，百年後蔭益子女孫子富貴長命大吉」。五管瓶多與盤口壺一起使用，倫敦大英博物館大維德基金會收藏一件盤口壺，所刻銘文為：「元豐三年閏九月十五圓日，願燒上色糧墉，承貯千萬年香酒，歸去，伯（百）年歸後，蔭翳千子萬孫，永招富貴，長命大吉，受福無量，天下太平」（見霍吉淑，《道破玄機：英國大維德爵士所藏中國銘款瓷》，載《美成在久》2015年1月，雙月刊，總第3期，第64頁）。兩件銘文極其接近，應同屬中秋節為何十二婆祝壽所燒。。五管瓶多以蓮花為主題裝飾，佛教影響明顯。五管瓶蓋上也有見雞狗形紐，反映了古人以雞狗象徵天下太平的觀念。本件五管瓶器形優美似梅瓶，瓶蓋浮雕外卷蓮瓣，品質精良，與之類似者國內外僅有數件，似以龍泉青瓷博物館及瑞士玫茵堂收藏的兩件最為接近。
Condition
The vase is in overall good condition. There are some scattered kiln grit adhered to the body and burst bubbles.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.
拍品資料及來源
This magnificent grain jar, of superlative quality and possessing its original cover is a very rare and early example of a short-lived tradition of vessels made by the Longquan kilns in Zhejiang province to secure eternal well-being of a family. Five-spouted jars were usually accompanied by dish-mouthed vases to hold grains and liquor. Although both these jars and vases were often placed in tombs, they were also given as gifts to the elderly in the hope that they would pray for their descendants while still alive and thus ensure the well-being of their family in the afterlife.
A five-spouted jar in the Museum Yamato Bunkakan, Nara, is incised with an inscription that states that it was presented to Granny He for longevity and happiness in life, and for blessing her descendants after death, see Chinese Ceramics from the Museum Yamato Bunkakan Collection, Illustrated Catalogue Series No. 7, Nara, 1977, pl. 48. A dish-mouthed vase in the Sir Percival David Collection of the British Museum is incised with a very similar inscription stating that “This Top Grade vessel is fired to contain liquor of everlasting fragrance. May the owner after death bless the countless descendants with eternal wealth, status, longevity, auspiciousness, infinite happiness and peace for the world”, see Jessica Harrison-Hall, Whose line is it anyway? Marks and Inscriptions on Chinese Ceramics in the Sir Percival David Collection, Orientations, November/December 2009, fig. 9 . The two vessels were both inscribed on the full moon day of the ninth month of the year 1080 and may have been made for the same person for the Mid-Autumn Festival. The primary decoration of lotus petals and a lotus bud on top suggest that this custom was firmly anchored in Buddhist beliefs.
The five spouts may symbolize the proverbial five types of grain, as in the local dialect the term for the tubular spouts (guan 管) is homophonous to that for “grain”. A five-spouted jar in the Longquan Celadon Museum, illustrated in Zhu Boqian, ed., Celadons from Longquan Kilns, Taipei, 1998, pl. 56, bears an ink inscription inside the cover that names the vessel expressly a “granary for five types of grain”, which “conforms to the Heaven above and the Earth below and will bless the descendants with long life, wealth and status”.
Longquan in southwestern Zhejiang province was one of China’s major ceramic centers and the predominant producer of celadon wares, comparable in global significance to Jingdezhen, China’s ‘porcelain capital’. From the 11th to 16th centuries Longquan supplied large quantities of ceramics to the domestic and global markets including the Chinese royal court. Grain jars like the present piece with tubular sockets on the shoulder, which typically do not connect to the inside, were primarily made in the 11th century and are unique to the kilns of Longquan. At this early period, the Longquan kilns were still strongly influenced by the exquisite celadons of the Yue kilns further north in the same province, which they soon, however, eclipsed. Jars such as the present piece were formerly often attributed to the Yue kilns, but archaeological evidence from kiln sites and tombs suggests that they were produced by manufactories of the Longquan region.
The present piece with its elegant meiping-like shape and elaborate and beautiful relief decoration, particularly the cover with curled lotus petals and bud, belongs to a very rare type, characterized by particularly fine workmanship. Comparable examples include one unearthed from a tomb in Longquan city, published in Zhongguo chutu ciqi quanji / Complete Collection of Ceramic Art Unearthed in China, Beijing, 2008, vol. 9, pl. 173; one illustrated in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, London 1994-2010, vol. 3, pt. II, no. 1565; one from the Ataka collection in the Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka, included in the exhibition Longquan Ware: Chinese Celadon Beloved of the Japanese, Aichi Prefecture Museum of Ceramics, Aichi, 2012, cat. no. 1; and one included in the Oriental Ceramic Society exhibition The Arts of the T’ang Dynasty, London, 1955, cat. no. 247, illustrated in Margaret Medley, The Chinese Potter, Oxford, 1976, fig. 67, and sold in our London rooms, 29th March 1977, lot 126.
A five-spouted jar in the Museum Yamato Bunkakan, Nara, is incised with an inscription that states that it was presented to Granny He for longevity and happiness in life, and for blessing her descendants after death, see Chinese Ceramics from the Museum Yamato Bunkakan Collection, Illustrated Catalogue Series No. 7, Nara, 1977, pl. 48. A dish-mouthed vase in the Sir Percival David Collection of the British Museum is incised with a very similar inscription stating that “This Top Grade vessel is fired to contain liquor of everlasting fragrance. May the owner after death bless the countless descendants with eternal wealth, status, longevity, auspiciousness, infinite happiness and peace for the world”, see Jessica Harrison-Hall, Whose line is it anyway? Marks and Inscriptions on Chinese Ceramics in the Sir Percival David Collection, Orientations, November/December 2009, fig. 9 . The two vessels were both inscribed on the full moon day of the ninth month of the year 1080 and may have been made for the same person for the Mid-Autumn Festival. The primary decoration of lotus petals and a lotus bud on top suggest that this custom was firmly anchored in Buddhist beliefs.
The five spouts may symbolize the proverbial five types of grain, as in the local dialect the term for the tubular spouts (guan 管) is homophonous to that for “grain”. A five-spouted jar in the Longquan Celadon Museum, illustrated in Zhu Boqian, ed., Celadons from Longquan Kilns, Taipei, 1998, pl. 56, bears an ink inscription inside the cover that names the vessel expressly a “granary for five types of grain”, which “conforms to the Heaven above and the Earth below and will bless the descendants with long life, wealth and status”.
Longquan in southwestern Zhejiang province was one of China’s major ceramic centers and the predominant producer of celadon wares, comparable in global significance to Jingdezhen, China’s ‘porcelain capital’. From the 11th to 16th centuries Longquan supplied large quantities of ceramics to the domestic and global markets including the Chinese royal court. Grain jars like the present piece with tubular sockets on the shoulder, which typically do not connect to the inside, were primarily made in the 11th century and are unique to the kilns of Longquan. At this early period, the Longquan kilns were still strongly influenced by the exquisite celadons of the Yue kilns further north in the same province, which they soon, however, eclipsed. Jars such as the present piece were formerly often attributed to the Yue kilns, but archaeological evidence from kiln sites and tombs suggests that they were produced by manufactories of the Longquan region.
The present piece with its elegant meiping-like shape and elaborate and beautiful relief decoration, particularly the cover with curled lotus petals and bud, belongs to a very rare type, characterized by particularly fine workmanship. Comparable examples include one unearthed from a tomb in Longquan city, published in Zhongguo chutu ciqi quanji / Complete Collection of Ceramic Art Unearthed in China, Beijing, 2008, vol. 9, pl. 173; one illustrated in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, London 1994-2010, vol. 3, pt. II, no. 1565; one from the Ataka collection in the Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka, included in the exhibition Longquan Ware: Chinese Celadon Beloved of the Japanese, Aichi Prefecture Museum of Ceramics, Aichi, 2012, cat. no. 1; and one included in the Oriental Ceramic Society exhibition The Arts of the T’ang Dynasty, London, 1955, cat. no. 247, illustrated in Margaret Medley, The Chinese Potter, Oxford, 1976, fig. 67, and sold in our London rooms, 29th March 1977, lot 126.