A rare pair of 'Longquan' celadon-glazed mallet vases, Southern Song dynasty | 南宋 龍泉窰青釉雙鳳耳盤口瓶一對

Property from an Old Belgian Family Collection
A rare pair of 'Longquan' celadon-glazed mallet vases
Southern Song dynasty

(2)
Height 17.2 cm, 6¾ in.; Height 17.3 cm, 6¾ in.
__________________________________________________________________________

Collection particulière belge
Rare paire de vases en forme de mallet en grès céladon Longquan, dynastie des Song du Sud
__________________________________________________________________________

比利時私人收藏
南宋 龍泉窰青釉雙鳳耳盤口瓶一對

Condition Report:
General light surface wear and expected firing imperfections, including a pinhole under one of the two vases' handles. The same vase with a ca. 1.2 cm nick to the rim.
The other vase with a ca. 3.5 cm restored area to the rim.
__________________________________________________________________________

器面見輕微磨痕、正常窰燒瑕疵，如其一，一耳下方一棕眼，及口沿一細微磕痕，約1.2公分。其二，口沿一處經修，約3.5公分。

Catalogue Note:
Longquan mallet form, or kinuta, vases became popular among the elites in the Southern Song period, (see a piece excavated from a Southern Song tomb in Zhu Boqian, Celadons from Longquan Kilns, Taipei, 1998, p. 149, no. 116); and they even served the Southern Song court (see Shen Qionghua, "Discussion on Relationship between Longquan Kiln and Government in Song Dynasty", in Tianxia longquan longquan qingci yu quanqiu hua / Longquan of the World Longquan Celadon and Globalization, vol. II, Beijing, 2019, p. 342. Fine celadon pieces like this were also treasured at court as antiques in later dynasties as evidenced by a similar vase formerly in the Qing imperial collection and once stored in Yangxin dian (Hall of Mental Cultivation), illustrated in Tianxia longquan, op.cit., pl. 9, p. 40.

In Japan, they were so highly regarded that the term designating their mallet shape, kinuta, became a general term for a fine celadon glaze. Several fine examples are in Japan even ranked as National Treasure or Important Cultural Property, see Yutaka Mino and Katherine R. Tsiang, Ice and Green Clouds: Traditions of Chinese Celadon, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, 1987, no. 78 and figs. 78 a-e, where the authors note that vases of this type have been valued in Japan since the Kamakura period (1192 - 1333); compare also two similar mallet vases with phoenix-form handles, one sold in our London rooms, 5th November 2008; and one in our New York rooms, 23rd March 2011, lot 536.

Provenance:
John Sparks Ltd., London, 31st March 1961 (£750).

__________________________________________________________________________

John Sparks Ltd.，倫敦，1961年3月31日 (750 英磅)