Top 12 Most Expensive Chinese Ceramics Sold at Sotheby’s in 2014

Étiquettes

14th Century, Blue and White ‘Fruit’ Meiping, blue and white barbed rim dish, blue and white Palace bowl, carved lobed Dingyao basin, celadon-glazed ‘Dragon’ vase, Copper-Red “Fish” Stemcup, Doucai 'Chicken Cups', Kangxi mark and period, Mark and Period of Chenghua, Mark And Period Of Xuande, Marks and Period of Yongzheng, Ming Dynasty, Northern Song dynasty, Pink-Ground Famille-Rose Vase with Poems, Seal Mark And Period Of Qianlong, The Fonthill ‘Dragon’ Jar, The Meiyintang ‘Chicken Cup', Yellow-Ground ‘Yangcai’ Vase, Yellow-Ground Blue and White 'Fruits' Tianqiuping, Yongle Period, Yuan dynasty

1 – The Meiyintang ‘Chicken Cup’. An exceptionally important and fine doucai ‘chicken cup’, Mark and period of Chenghua. Price Realized 281,240,000 HKD (US$36.500.000) setting a World Auction Record For Any Chinese Porcelain. Photo Sotheby’s.

Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 8 April 2014

2 – A magnificently carved lobed Dingyao basin, Northern Song Dynasty. Price Realized 281,240,000 HKD (US$18,800,000), the Second Highest Price for Song Ceramics at Auction. Photo Sotheby’s.

Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 8 April 2014

3 – The Fonthill ‘Dragon’ Jar. A Magnificent Carved Celadon-Glazed ‘Dragon’ Jar, Seal Mark And Period Of Qianlong. Price Realized 94,200,000 HKD (US$12,000,000), a World Auction Record For Qing Monochrome Porcelain. Photo Sotheby’s

Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 8 October 2014

4 – A Magnificent Yellow-Ground ‘Yangcai’ Vase, Seal Mark and Period of Qianlong. Price Realized 57,240,000 HKD (US$7,379,953). Photo Sotheby’s.

Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 8 October 2014

5 – A superb blue and white Palace bowl, Mark and period of Chenghua. Price Realized 56,120,000 HKD (US$7,235,552). Photo Sotheby’s.

Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 8 October 2014

6 – A Fine and Rare Blue and White ‘Fruit’ Meiping, Ming Dynasty, Yongle Period. Price Realized 48,280,000 HKD (US$6,225,706). Photo Sotheby’s.

Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 8 April 2014

7 – The Chunzaizhai Collection. An Important And Fine Copper-Red “Fish” Stemcup, Mark And Period Of Xuande. Price Realized 43,800,000 HKD (US$5,647,134). Photo Sotheby’s.

Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 8 October 2014

8 – An Extremely Rare Yellow-Ground Blue and White ‘Fruits’ Tianqiuping. Seal Mark and Period of Qianlong. Price Realized 41,560,000 HKD (US$5,359,162). Photo Sotheby’s.

Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 8 April 2014

9 – A Fine and Rare Pair of Doucai ‘Chicken Cups’. Marks and Period of Yongzheng. Price Realized 33,160,000 HKD (US$4,275,982). Photo Sotheby’s.

Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 8 April 2014

10 – A rare molded blue and white barbed rim dish, Yuan dynasty, 14th century. Price Realized 32,585,404 HKD (US$4,197,000 ). Photo Sotheby’s.

Sotheby’s New York, 18-19 March 2014

11 – A Fine and Rare Pink-Ground Famille-Rose Vase with Poems. Seal Mark and Period of Qianlong. Price Realized 19,720,000 HKD (US$2,542,894). Photo Sotheby’s.

Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 8 April 2014

12 – A fine and rare celadon-glazed ‘Dragon’ vase, Kangxi mark and period. Price Realized 17,710,432 HKD (US$2,285,000). Photo Sotheby’s.

Sotheby’s New York, 16 September 2014

The Fonthill ‘Dragon’ Jar.

Étiquettes

Carved Celadon-Glazed ‘Dragon’ Jar, Seal Mark And Period Of Qianlong, The Fonthill ‘Dragon’ Jar

The Fonthill ‘Dragon’ Jar. A Magnificent Carved Celadon-Glazed ‘Dragon’ Jar, Seal Mark And Period Of Qianlong. Photo Sotheby’s

superbly potted with a generous well-rounded ovoid body gently rising from a tapered banded foot to a short waisted neck and lipped mouth, the exterior crisply carved overall in varying levels of relief with a wondrous and lively scene of two large five-clawed dragons, one in a dominant position, the other slightly subordinate, depicted writhing ferociously through flames and dense scrolling lingzhi-shaped clouds, their scaly bodies intricately incised with naturalistic detail and prominently executed in bold relief, particularly their protruding noses which are executed in higher relief than the rest of their facial features, further emphasising the impression of the dragons emanating dynamically from amongst the clouds, all above whirlpool-like waves in a turbulent sea, with frothy crests depicted breaking against jagged rocks, the whole surface superbly applied with an exquisite clear watery blue-green glaze, skilfully transmuting to a white on the outlines of the dragons and clouds, the unglazed footring burnt a rich russet-brown, the even celadon-glazed base carved in relief with a six-character seal mark within a recessed square cartouche; 34.4 cm., 13 1/2  in.. Estimate Upon Request

PROVENANCE: Collection of Lord Loch of Drylaw (1827-1900).
Collection of Alfred Morrison (1821-97), Fonthill House, Tisbury, Wiltshire (no. 643).
The Rt. Hon The Lord of Margadale of Islay, T.D.
Christie’s London, 18th October 1971, lot 51.
Spink & Son Ltd, London.
Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 17th May 1988, lot 75.
Collection of the Idemitsu Museum, Tokyo.

LITERATURE: Sotheby’s Hong Kong – Twenty Years, Hong Kong, 1993, pl. 310.
Kanzō meihinsen [Selected masterpieces from the museum], vol. 2, Idemitsu Museum, Tokyo, 1996, cat. no. 103.

Two Dragons Dancing among Waves
Regina Krahl

This jar, with its superbly harmonious combination of form, carving style, design and glaze colour, is a characteristic product of the period, when Tang Ying (1682-1756) was supervisor of the imperial kilns in Jingdezhen, and could have been produced in the late Yongzheng period (1723-35) just as well as in the early Qianlong reign (1736-95). It was a period when the expectations on a piece of porcelain were set to the highest level ever, every aspect of a vessel was precisely calculated and planned, down to minute detail, but at the same time, every object was regarded as a work of art in its entirety. The present piece, which is a particularly satisfactory example, is a major monochrome vessel.

Ceramics with celadon glazes never lost their attraction, from the very first moment they began to be produced, almost four thousand years ago. Remarkably, over this long period ever new ways could be found to set in scene the wonderful glaze colour. With the present jar, which stands in this long tradition, the potters again discovered a new format. Although the shape with its generous, well-rounded outline that curves harmoniously towards the rim, would seem to be a classic jar form, vessels with similar proportions had previously only been created in very small format; and whereas dragons among waves and clouds were an eternal subject to decorate carved vessels, the style of the present piece is exceptional.

Pairs of dragons, one dominating, the other slightly subordinate, were not depicted in this lively form before the Qing dynasty (1644-1911). Until then, it had been common to show two dragons as a more or less identical pair and to arrange them symmetrically on the surface to be decorated, as auspicious symbols. On porcelain, dragons began to come alive through the artist Liu Yuan (c. 1638-c. 1685), an accomplished painter, calligrapher, wood and stone carver who, during a brief period in the Kangxi reign, from 1681 to 1688, was employed by the court to design porcelains for the imperial factory at Jingdezhen, when Zang Yingxuan was its Director. Liu’s dragons were powerful animals splashing about among waves and shooting through clouds in a seemingly naturalistic manner. On Kangxi porcelain, they were, however, usually depicted as single animals.

The illustration of such animals in pairs was perfected under Tang Ying. The harmonious interaction between the two creatures, dancing around each other as they dive and rise from the waters, is a design challenge that was more commonly restricted to two-dimensional ‘canvases’ such as moonflasks (fig. 1). The tour-de-force of depicting such a lively scene in the round, as on this jar, is a triumph of porcelain design. No particular meaning has been proposed for such scenes, but it would seem that it could only refer to the Emperor and the Heir Apparent.

Inspiration may have come from a type of massive, wide-mouthed celadon jar of the Yongzheng period, such as one in the Palace Museum, Beijing, from the Qing court collection, illustrated in Zhongguo taoci quanji [Complete series on Chinese ceramics], Shanghai, 1999-2000, vol. 14, pl. 214, and also in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Monochrome Porcelain, Hong Kong, 1999, pl. 135 (fig. 2). The Yongzheng jar, however, has deeper and sharper carving, which on the Qianlong example has been softened and the impression thus completely changed, to become much more subtle and to highlight the tonal nuances of the glaze colour particularly well. With the dragons’ faces executed in higher relief than the rest, the impression of the animals emerging from among the clouds has been perfectly evoked, while the background designs are so vigorously rendered that the clouds seem to quiver and the waves to splatter, thus reinforcing the ‘movement’ of the animals.

Outstanding among celadon porcelains is the present glaze colour. A clear watery blue-green, which is difficult to reach, as it requires pure reduction firing, was achieved on some of the celebrated wares from the Longquan kilns of the Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279). Thereafter, the technique appears to have been lost, as it is not known from celadon wares of the Yuan (1279-1368) and Ming (1368-1644) periods. In the Qing dynasty it was revived again on some of the finest porcelains of the Yongzheng reign, but remains rare, is generally restricted to smaller vessels, and seldom found on pieces with relief-carved decoration. On the fine white porcelain body produced at Jingdezhen the blue-green takes on an even more brilliant, translucent tone than it did on the heavier, less refined body available at Longquan.

Related carved celadon vessels of the 18th century generally have deeper carving and a less bluish glaze, such as, for example, a tianqiuping in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, illustrated in Oriental Ceramics, the World’s Great Collections, Tokyo, New York, and San Francisco, 1980–82, vol. 11, col. pl. 29. Compare also another celadon tianqiupingcarved with a much tamer dragon design in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Monochrome Porcelain, op.cit., pl. 137 (fig. 3). Another very similar jar was sold in these rooms, 24th November 1987, lot 119, and one with polished base and effaced reign mark at Christie’s Hong Kong, 2nd November 1999, lot 580.

Sotheby’s. The Fonthill ‘Dragon’ Jar. 08 OCTOBER 2014 | 10:45 AM HKT | HONG KONG

The Fonthill ‘Dragon’ Jar expected to fetch in excess of $10.3 million at Sotheby’s

Étiquettes

‘Dragon’ Jar, ‘Yangcai’, “Fish” Stemcup, “Peach” Bowl, Blade, Blue-and-White, Bowl Stand, celadon-glazed, Cinnabar Lacquer, Copper-Red, doucai, Dragon-Handled Vase, Gold and Silver-Inlaid Bronze, Gold-Splashed Bronze, Hongwu Period, Imperially Inscribed, Incense burner, Liding Ming Dynasty, Liding Song Dynasty, Mark and Period of Chenghua, Mark And Period Of Kangxi, Mark And Period Of Xuande, meiping, Ming Dynasty, Palace Bowl, Seal Mark And Period Of Qianlong, The Chunzaizhai Collection, The Fonthill ‘Dragon’ Jar, Tripod Incense Burner, White Jade, Xuande Mark, Yellow-Ground, Yongle Mark, Yuan dynasty, Yuan-Early Ming dynasty, Yuti Mark And Period Of Qianlong, Zun

The Fonthill ‘Dragon’ Jar. A Magnificent Carved Celadon-Glazed ‘Dragon’ Jar, Seal Mark And Period Of Qianlong, 34.4 cm. Expected to fetch in excess of HK$80 million / US$10.3 million. Photo: Sotheby’s.

HONG KONG.- Sotheby’s Hong Kong Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art Autumn Sales 2014 will take place on 8 October at Hall 3, Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. The sales will offer selected properties from various private collections, led by the Fonthill ‘Dragon’ Jar from the Qianlong period (Expected to fetch in excess of HK$80 million / US$10.3 million). Other highlights include a Xuande ‘fish’ stemcup from the Chunzaizhai Collection, Chinese art from the Hosokawa clan (separate press release available on request), the Baoyizhai Collection of Chinese lacquer, later Chinese bronzes from the collection of Ulrich Hausmann and porcelain from the collection of legendary Japanese dealer Sakamoto Gorō, as well as a yellow-ground yangcai vase from the Qianlong period from the Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art various-owner sale. Altogether, the seven sales will offer around 420 lots with a total estimate of approximately HK$530 million / US$68 million*. 

Nicolas Chow, Sotheby’s Asia Deputy Chairman and International Head of Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, said, “This season, it is our privilege to present a wonderful selection of some of the world’s most celebrated collections – Hosokawa, Hausmann, Baoyizhai – spanning a diversity of fields such as Imperial porcelain, later bronzes and lacquer. Besides, we will also offer a number of masterworks of Chinese Imperial porcelain, including the magnificently carved celadon jar decorated with dragons formerly in the Fonthill collection.” 

Auction Highlights:

The Fonthill ‘Dragon’ Jar. A Magnificent Carved Celadon-Glazed ‘Dragon’ Jar Seal Mark And Period Of Qianlong 34.4 cm Expected to fetch in excess of HK$80 million / US$10.3 million. Photo: Sotheby’s.

Throughout its 4,000-year history, the production of ceramics with celadon glazes has seen constant innovation. With the present jar, the classic jar form was rendered in a larger format unseen in previous examples, whereas the eternal subject of dragons among waves and clouds are portrayed in an exceptional style. With its superbly harmonious combination of form, carving style, design and glaze colour the present jar is a characteristic product of the period, when Tang Ying (1682-1756) was supervisor of the imperial kilns in Jingdezhen and the expectations on a piece of porcelain were set to the highest level ever. 

The Chunzaizhai Collection – A Xuande ‘Fish’ Stemcup. An Important And Fine Copper-Red “Fish” Stemcup, Mark And Period Of Xuande, 8.8 cm. Est. HK$40 – 60 million / US$5.1 – 7.7 million. Photo: Sotheby’s.

The superb Xuande stemcup from the Chunzaizhai Collection is the only example of this particular type and size ever to come to the market. The radical simplicity of this three-fish and related three-fruit designs is without par in the history of Chinese porcelain decoration and testifies to both the innovative approach to painting at the Imperial kilns in Jingdezhen and the technical progress in the firing of the copper-red, a notoriously fickle pigment. The admirable, jewel-like colour and texture of these silhouettes was achieved only in the Xuande reign and was not matched since. Numbers of very well executed examples with red glaze decoration such as the present piece remained very small. This piece has an illustrious history, having come to the market for the first time at Sotheby’s in 1956 from the collection of Allen J. Mercher, and since spent two decades in the Chang Foundation in Taipei.

Chinese Art Through the Eye of Sakamoto Gorō – Porcelain Following the previous success of offerings from the Sakamoto Gorō collection, Sotheby’s Hong Kong is delighted to present a selected group of porcelains from the famed collection of the legendary antique dealer. Sakamoto’s career as an antiques dealer, collector and connoisseur has spanned almost 70 years. 

A Brilliantly Painted and Extremely Rare Blue and White Narrative Fragment of a Meiping, Yuan Dynasty. Diameter 24.3 cm. HK$2 – 3 million / US$260,000 – 380,000. Photo: Sotheby’s.

The present piece is a fragment of a meiping delicately painted in vivid shades of cobalt-blue with a continuous narrative scene alluding to the Yuan dynasty zaju (‘variety plays’), Baihuating (‘Pavilion of a Hundred Flowers’). The Yuan dynasty (1279-1368) is the only period when witty illustrations of popular scenes from contemporary theatre found their way onto porcelains. The superbly painted, complex stories represented on less than two dozen vessels that are preserved are among the most magnificent examples of Chinese porcelain painting ever achieved. This genre of porcelains made to evoke romantic or patriotic sentiments like contemporary drama developed in the relative freedom in porcelain production under the Mongol regime and was quickly abandoned again due to the subsequent submission of the Jingdezhen kilns under imperial control in the early Ming dynasty (1368-1644). 

The Baoyizhai Collection of Chinese Lacquer, Part 2

As ritual bronzes fell out of vogue in the late Eastern Zhou Dynasty (770-256 BC), lacquerwares began to take their place as one the most coveted luxury items one could own. Since that time, lacquer has continued to hold its place among highly esteemed collected objects like ceramics and jades. Hailed as one of the world’s top Chinese lacquer collectors, Dr. Hu Shih-chang (1924-2006) assembled a comprehensive collection which includes pieces from the Warring States period (475-221 BC) to the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), and has been widely published and exhibited. 

An Exceptional and Important Carved Cinnabar Lacquer Bowl Stand, Ming Dynasty, Hongwu Period, Yongle And Xuande Marks, 21.4 cm. Est. HK$10 – 15 million / US$1.3 – 1.9 million. Photo: Sotheby’s.

Made to support bowls of hot tea, bowl stands were incorporated into the repertoire of the imperial workshops in the Ming dynasty. Ming (1368- 1644) emperors typically commissioned their own porcelains and relegated wares from previous reigns to storage. However, as carved lacquer was far more precious and laborious to recreate, this teabowl stand passed from ruler to ruler: produced for the Hongwu Emperor (r.1368-98), it was appropriated by the Yongle Emperor (r. 1403-24), whose reign mark was thinly engraved, before the Xuande Emperor (r. 1426-35) had his magnificent gilded mark carved on top. 

Later Chinese Bronzes from the Collection of Ulrich Hausmann

Passionately collected over 45 years by the German architect Ulrich Hausmann, the Wei Liao Qing Yuan is the definitive collection of later Chinese bronzes. Encompassing all the major categories, the sale includes incense burners, archaistic vessels, water droppers, hand warmers and religious figures, reflecting the refined taste of the official scholar elite from the Song to Qing dynasties. 

A Gold-Splashed Bronze Tripod Incense Burner, Liding Ming Dynasty, 17.5 cm. Est. HK$500,000 – 600,000 / US$64,000 – 77,000. Photo: Sotheby’s.

A Large Bronze Dragon-Handled Vase, Zun, Yuan-Early Ming Dynasty, 28 cm. Est. HK$40,000 – 60,000 / US$5,000 – 8,000. Photo: Sotheby’s.

A Partially Guilt-Bronze ‘Duck’ Water Dropper Late Ming Dynasty 6 cm Est. HK$40,000 – 60,000 / US$5,000 – 8,000. Photo: Sotheby’s.

A Gold and Silver-Inlaid Bronze Incense Burner, Liding Song Dynasty, 19 cm Est. HK$300,000 – 500,000 / US$38,000 – 64,000. Photo: Sotheby’s.

Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art

A Magnificent Yellow-Ground ‘Yangcai’ Vase, Seal Mark and Period of Qianlong, 29.3 cm. Est. HK$30 – 40 million / US$3.8 – 5.1 million. Photo: Sotheby’s.

The current yangcai decorated yellow-ground bottle vase is representative of the advanced technical innovation as well as the successful synthesis of classical Chinese taste and Western decorative technique and palette in porcelain manufacture during the reign of the Qianlong emperor (r. 1735-96), who is known for his love for yangcai pieces. It also marks the innovative combination of ‘flowers on brocade’ sgraffiato with yangcai colours that result in a most pleasing arrangement. The present yangcai vase is truly exquisite, in a fine state of preservation, and the quality of its enamelling compares favourably with the finest examples from the Imperial Collection still preserved in Taipei and Beijing. That it has been possible to find its original entry in the Qing imperial court archives makes it a truly magnificent legacy of the Qianlong reign. 

A Superb Blue and White Palace Bowl, Mark and Period of Chenghua, 14.7 cm. Est. HK$40 – 60 million / US$5.1 – 7.7 million. Photo: Sotheby’s.

Chenghua palace bowls are regarded as the most refined blue and white porcelains ever made and rank among the rarest wares ever produced at the Imperial kilns. Porcelain of the period remained greatly treasured by later Emperors, particularly Emperor Wanli and Emperor Yongzheng, who both had copies commissioned from the Imperial kilns. Both the interior and exterior of the bowl are decorated with gently undulating meanders of musk mallow, a flower design that appears for the first time in early 15th century blue and white porcelain. The present bowl is one of only two bowls of this design still remaining in private hands, while eleven examples are in museum collection, six of them in Asia and five in Europe. 

A Fine And Rare Pair Of Doucai “Peach” Bowls, Marks And Period Of Kangxi, 14.6 cm. Est. HK$8 – 10 million / US$1 – 1.3 million. Photo: Sotheby’s.

These bowls are notable for the elegant and unusual design which has been restricted to a narrow band. The refined composition is accentuated by the variation of colours and delicacy of the enamelling which illustrate carefully observed details. With its highly auspicious decoration, this pair of bowls was possibly part of the large production for the Kangxi Emperor’s sixtieth birthday celebrations in 1713 for which peaches symbolic of longevity featured as the main motif. 

An Important Imperially Inscribed White Jade Blade, Yuti Mark And Period Of Qianlong, 18.1 cm. Est. HK$8 – 10 million / US$1 – 1.3 million. Photo: Sotheby’s.

The present blade pendant is an excellent reflection of the passion of Qianlong Emperor for creative archaism in jades. Its form and decorative motifs are clearly based on the face-like motifs of Neolithic jades, but at the same time differ from the latter in execution. Pure and warm in material, subtle and profound in form, antique and refined in decoration, with an inscription of praise by the emperor himself, the present jade blade pendant is a perfect fusion of various cultural elements.