A RARE BLUE AND WHITE WEIGHT, QUAN, YUAN DYNASTY
A RARE BLUE AND WHITE WEIGHT, QUAN, YUAN DYNASTY
This lot is from a single owner collection and is therefore offered without reserve
The Jorgen Ruben Gallery Ledger, entry from 2005:
“No. 238, FH 1985, Chinese weight in blue and white scroll motif, Yuan dyn.”
Gallery price: EUR 2,700 or approx.
EUR 4,500 adjusted for inflation at the time of writing.
China, 1279-1368. Heavily potted, of bell-shaped form surmounted by a domed top pierced with a circular aperture, covered overall in a blue and white glaze save for the base. Finely painted in cobalt blue with flowerheads borne on curling leafy tendrils continuing around the sides. The foot left unglazed revealing the buff ware burnt to orange in the firing.
Provenance: Freddy Hansen, Copenhagen, Denmark, by 1985. Jorgen Ruben, acquired from the above. In the Jorgen Ruben Collection for 41 years.
Freddy Hansen was a Danish dealer of Asian art and antiquities, particularly Buddhist sculpture. Based in Copenhagen, he was active from the 1950s onward and became one of Denmark's most prominent dealers in Asian art before his retirement in the early 1990s.
Jorgen Ruben is a Danish art dealer and collector who has been active for over four decades and is highly regarded in the fields of Asian art and classical antiquities. Raised in an art-conscious family, Ruben was exposed early to both modern painting and European decorative arts. He began working in the art trade in the mid-1970s, first with Persian rugs and later with antiques, while travels to Iran and a visit to Persepolis sparked his lasting interest in antiquity. After studies in Copenhagen and London, he worked in England with a dealer in early furniture, before travelling widely in Latin America and Asia, deepening his knowledge of regional art and culture. In 1984 Ruben opened a gallery in Copenhagen dealing in Asian antiquities. He was later active in London and, in the early 2000s, operated the Brussels gallery Classic Art. Much of his career, however, has been conducted privately from home, selling by appointment to collectors, galleries, and museums. Ruben has always bought selectively, choosing only works that deeply engaged him, and often keeping them for many years until placing them with a collector he felt truly understood them.
Important Note: For essential information on the
Jorgen Ruben Gallery Ledger and provenance documentation please visit here: www.zacke.at/rubencollection_ledger
Condition: Good condition with old wear, traces of use, and firing irregularities including dark spots, glaze recesses, and firing cracks, particularly below the handle and to the base, the latter with old fills, expected chips to edges of the base, few minor hairlines.
Weight: 2.2 kg
Dimensions: Height 16.5 cm
Known as quan, weights formed an essential part of commerce and administration during the Yuan dynasty, suspended from steelyards to measure commodities ranging from precious metals to grain. They were produced in several materials according to their intended scale and setting. Cast bronze and iron weights frequently bear dates, denominations, issuing offices, and occasionally inscriptions in several of the scripts used across the Yuan empire. Stone examples could reach considerable dimensions for the weighing of bulk goods, while ceramic weights translated these utilitarian forms into the language of the kiln. Porcelain examples occupy an intriguing position between implement and emblem, serving variously as working or calibrating weights, shop furnishings, and auspicious symbols of balance and fair dealing.
Literature comparison:
Compare a closely related smaller blue and white weight with floral decoration, dated to the Yuan dynasty, 7.5 cm high, in the Shanghai Baoshan International Folk Art Museum.
Buyer's Premium
30%
A RARE BLUE AND WHITE WEIGHT, QUAN, YUAN DYNASTY
This lot is from a single owner collection and is therefore offered without reserve
The Jorgen Ruben Gallery Ledger, entry from 2005:
“No. 238, FH 1985, Chinese weight in blue and white scroll motif, Yuan dyn.”
Gallery price: EUR 2,700 or approx.
EUR 4,500 adjusted for inflation at the time of writing.
China, 1279-1368. Heavily potted, of bell-shaped form surmounted by a domed top pierced with a circular aperture, covered overall in a blue and white glaze save for the base. Finely painted in cobalt blue with flowerheads borne on curling leafy tendrils continuing around the sides. The foot left unglazed revealing the buff ware burnt to orange in the firing.
Provenance: Freddy Hansen, Copenhagen, Denmark, by 1985. Jorgen Ruben, acquired from the above. In the Jorgen Ruben Collection for 41 years.
Freddy Hansen was a Danish dealer of Asian art and antiquities, particularly Buddhist sculpture. Based in Copenhagen, he was active from the 1950s onward and became one of Denmark's most prominent dealers in Asian art before his retirement in the early 1990s.
Jorgen Ruben is a Danish art dealer and collector who has been active for over four decades and is highly regarded in the fields of Asian art and classical antiquities. Raised in an art-conscious family, Ruben was exposed early to both modern painting and European decorative arts. He began working in the art trade in the mid-1970s, first with Persian rugs and later with antiques, while travels to Iran and a visit to Persepolis sparked his lasting interest in antiquity. After studies in Copenhagen and London, he worked in England with a dealer in early furniture, before travelling widely in Latin America and Asia, deepening his knowledge of regional art and culture. In 1984 Ruben opened a gallery in Copenhagen dealing in Asian antiquities. He was later active in London and, in the early 2000s, operated the Brussels gallery Classic Art. Much of his career, however, has been conducted privately from home, selling by appointment to collectors, galleries, and museums. Ruben has always bought selectively, choosing only works that deeply engaged him, and often keeping them for many years until placing them with a collector he felt truly understood them.
Important Note: For essential information on the
Jorgen Ruben Gallery Ledger and provenance documentation please visit here: www.zacke.at/rubencollection_ledger
Condition: Good condition with old wear, traces of use, and firing irregularities including dark spots, glaze recesses, and firing cracks, particularly below the handle and to the base, the latter with old fills, expected chips to edges of the base, few minor hairlines.
Weight: 2.2 kg
Dimensions: Height 16.5 cm
Known as quan, weights formed an essential part of commerce and administration during the Yuan dynasty, suspended from steelyards to measure commodities ranging from precious metals to grain. They were produced in several materials according to their intended scale and setting. Cast bronze and iron weights frequently bear dates, denominations, issuing offices, and occasionally inscriptions in several of the scripts used across the Yuan empire. Stone examples could reach considerable dimensions for the weighing of bulk goods, while ceramic weights translated these utilitarian forms into the language of the kiln. Porcelain examples occupy an intriguing position between implement and emblem, serving variously as working or calibrating weights, shop furnishings, and auspicious symbols of balance and fair dealing.
Literature comparison:
Compare a closely related smaller blue and white weight with floral decoration, dated to the Yuan dynasty, 7.5 cm high, in the Shanghai Baoshan International Folk Art Museum.
Buyer's Premium
30%
