1st Mar, 2024 10:00
The No Reserve Dragon Sale
171
A LARGE BLUE AND WHITE SIX-TUBE ARROW VASE, TOUHU, MING DYNASTY, TL TESTED
明代青花投壺式瓶
Sold for €7,800
including Buyer's Premium
Please note this Lot is to be sold at No Reserve. 本拍品不設底價
Scientific Analysis Report: A thermoluminescence analysis report issued by Oxford Authentication on 15 February 2024, based on sample number P124b27, sets the firing date of two samples taken between 400 and 600 years ago, and hence is consitent with the dating of this lot. A copy of the report, signed by Helen Mason for Oxford Authentication, accompanies this lot.
Expert’s note: The six small and rather unusual lion heads applied on the shoulder of the present vase once suspended bronze rings, which have long been lost to time. It is possible that these rings were used to keep score when playing touhu with this vase, since there is exactly one lion head for each of the six arrow tubes.
China, 16th to early 17th century. The pear-shaped body supported on a waisted foot and rising to a slender neck, the mouth applied with six tubular arrow holes, the shoulder with six pierced lion heads. Finely decorated to the exterior in shades of cobalt blue with scholarly figures and their attendants inside a fenced garden with large willows, below a band of ruyi heads at the shoulder. The neck with three magpies on a prunus branch and a large pine tree, the mouth and arrow lugs with floral designs, the foot with a band of lotus petals.
Provenance: From a private collection in Paris, France.
Condition: Expected old wear and firing irregularities, including burst bubbles, black spots, firing cracks, glaze recesses, and kiln grit. The neck with a horizontal luting line showing an old fill, visible also on the inside, and associated glaze lines. Minor smoothened chips to the foot and occasional light scratches. Two holes from sample drilling.
Weight: 3,136 g
Dimensions: Height 38.3 cm
Please click here to read the full description
Arrow vases were made for a drinking game called ‘touhu’ (lit. ‘pitch-pot’), which had been popular among elite men and women from the Spring and Autumn period of the Eastern Zhou dynasty. The Ming-dynasty Emperor Xuande was known to be quite fond of the game, as evidenced by a painting of him playing touhu by Shan Xi (in the Palace Museum, Beijing). Players threw arrows into bronze or ceramic vases with narrow tubular necks at prescribed intervals, each player equidistant from the vase. The winner successfully projected all his arrows into the vase and the loser was forced to drink at each miss. Elaborate rituals and intricate rules, recorded in the Li Ji (Book of Rites), added further complexity to the game. Puzzling pitching techniques were described in the Touhu Yijie (Ceremonial Usages and Rules of Touhu), an illustrated manual written by Wang Ti (1490-1530), and these shots were given fancy names, like ‘A Pair of Dragons Enters the Sea’ when two arrows were thrown from a great height at once into the vase. The touhu game was used to practice archery, one of the essential accomplishments of a gentleman. Later in the Ming era, the game became more widespread, being played by rich merchants as well as the aristocracy and scholarly elite. A scene in the famous late Ming novel Jin Ping Mei (Plum Blossom in the Golden Vase), written in 1619, describes the wealthy merchant Ximen Qing's seduction of his concubine Panjinlian. She becomes inebriated while playing touhu on a picnic and the game leads to an amorous encounter. For a further discussion of the game see Isabelle Lee, Touhu: Three Millennia of the Chinese Arrow Vase and the Game of Pitch-pot, Transactions of the Oriental Ceramic Society, vol. 56, 1991-2, pp. 13-7.
Literature comparison:
Compare a related Cizhou painted arrow vase, 40 cm high, dated to the Ming dynasty, circa 1522-1566, in the collection of the British Museum, museum number 1937,0716.74.
Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Galerie Zacke, Vienna, 29 September 2022, lot 106
Price: EUR 26,000 or approx. EUR 27,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A very large and extremely rare Cizhou painted arrow vase, touhu, Ming dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the related form, albeit with fewer and larger arrow holes and lacking the animal masks, and similar size (40 cm).
点此阅读中文翻译 (Chinese Translation)
明代青花投壺式瓶
中國，十六世紀至十七世紀初。胎體緊密，細長頸，豐腹下垂，圈足口，部有六個管狀箭孔，肩部一周有六個獅頭。外壁裝飾精美，青花描繪園中文人雅集；頸部修飾花鳥紋；足飾蓮瓣紋。
科學鑑定分析報告：牛津認證公司於2024年2月15日出具的熱釋光分析報告，根據樣本編號P124b27，確定兩個樣本的燒製日期為400至600年前。 該拍品隨附一份由Helen Mason簽署的牛津鑑定報告副本。
來源：法國巴黎私人收藏。
品相：有舊磨損、燒製不規則，破裂的氣泡、黑點、燒製裂紋、釉面凹陷和窯砂。頸部有一條水平的釉線，顯示出填充物，在內部也可見釉線。腳部有輕微的平滑缺口和輕微劃痕。足部有兩個鑽孔作為科學鑑定樣本。
重量：3,136 克
尺寸：高 38.3 厘米
投壺最早應是東週與春秋左近出現，源流本為“射禮”。最早投壺不是遊戲，而是諸侯國間的國家禮儀。投壺成為遊戲，是戰國後期才開始的。此等遊戲，在皇家燕宴，士大夫、文人們宴飲或雅集之際，必得以“雅歌”伴“投壺”助興。其投壺技巧百出，有背向反投者，遮目盲投者，隔了屏風越投者，或各種舞蹈技藝投壺者等等，不一而足。
《禮記》中記錄的精心製定的儀式和復雜的規則。明代投壺，又有新的發展，投擲技法百有四十，這在《投壺奏矢》一書中有載。1619年著名的《金瓶梅》書中，就描寫了西門慶勾引潘金蓮的場景，其中就有投壺的遊戲。有關投壺遊戲的進一步討論，請參見 Isabelle Lee，《Touhu：Three Millennia of the Chinese Arrow Vase and the Game of Pitch-pot'，Transactions of the Oriental Ceramic Society》，卷56，1991年第2冊，頁13-7。
文獻比較:
比較一件相近的約1522-1566年明代磁州投壺，高40 厘米， 收藏於大英博物館，館藏編號1937,0716.74。
拍賣比較：
形制：相近
拍賣：Galerie Zacke，維也納，2022年9月29日，lot 106
價格：EUR 26,000（相當今日EUR 27,500）
描述：明代罕見磁州窯彩繪投壺
專家註釋：比較相近的外形，儘管箭孔較少，而且沒有獅頭，以及相似的尺寸 (40 厘米)。
Please note this Lot is to be sold at No Reserve. 本拍品不設底價
Scientific Analysis Report: A thermoluminescence analysis report issued by Oxford Authentication on 15 February 2024, based on sample number P124b27, sets the firing date of two samples taken between 400 and 600 years ago, and hence is consitent with the dating of this lot. A copy of the report, signed by Helen Mason for Oxford Authentication, accompanies this lot.
Expert’s note: The six small and rather unusual lion heads applied on the shoulder of the present vase once suspended bronze rings, which have long been lost to time. It is possible that these rings were used to keep score when playing touhu with this vase, since there is exactly one lion head for each of the six arrow tubes.
China, 16th to early 17th century. The pear-shaped body supported on a waisted foot and rising to a slender neck, the mouth applied with six tubular arrow holes, the shoulder with six pierced lion heads. Finely decorated to the exterior in shades of cobalt blue with scholarly figures and their attendants inside a fenced garden with large willows, below a band of ruyi heads at the shoulder. The neck with three magpies on a prunus branch and a large pine tree, the mouth and arrow lugs with floral designs, the foot with a band of lotus petals.
Provenance: From a private collection in Paris, France.
Condition: Expected old wear and firing irregularities, including burst bubbles, black spots, firing cracks, glaze recesses, and kiln grit. The neck with a horizontal luting line showing an old fill, visible also on the inside, and associated glaze lines. Minor smoothened chips to the foot and occasional light scratches. Two holes from sample drilling.
Weight: 3,136 g
Dimensions: Height 38.3 cm
Please click here to read the full description
Arrow vases were made for a drinking game called ‘touhu’ (lit. ‘pitch-pot’), which had been popular among elite men and women from the Spring and Autumn period of the Eastern Zhou dynasty. The Ming-dynasty Emperor Xuande was known to be quite fond of the game, as evidenced by a painting of him playing touhu by Shan Xi (in the Palace Museum, Beijing). Players threw arrows into bronze or ceramic vases with narrow tubular necks at prescribed intervals, each player equidistant from the vase. The winner successfully projected all his arrows into the vase and the loser was forced to drink at each miss. Elaborate rituals and intricate rules, recorded in the Li Ji (Book of Rites), added further complexity to the game. Puzzling pitching techniques were described in the Touhu Yijie (Ceremonial Usages and Rules of Touhu), an illustrated manual written by Wang Ti (1490-1530), and these shots were given fancy names, like ‘A Pair of Dragons Enters the Sea’ when two arrows were thrown from a great height at once into the vase. The touhu game was used to practice archery, one of the essential accomplishments of a gentleman. Later in the Ming era, the game became more widespread, being played by rich merchants as well as the aristocracy and scholarly elite. A scene in the famous late Ming novel Jin Ping Mei (Plum Blossom in the Golden Vase), written in 1619, describes the wealthy merchant Ximen Qing's seduction of his concubine Panjinlian. She becomes inebriated while playing touhu on a picnic and the game leads to an amorous encounter. For a further discussion of the game see Isabelle Lee, Touhu: Three Millennia of the Chinese Arrow Vase and the Game of Pitch-pot, Transactions of the Oriental Ceramic Society, vol. 56, 1991-2, pp. 13-7.
Literature comparison:
Compare a related Cizhou painted arrow vase, 40 cm high, dated to the Ming dynasty, circa 1522-1566, in the collection of the British Museum, museum number 1937,0716.74.
Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Galerie Zacke, Vienna, 29 September 2022, lot 106
Price: EUR 26,000 or approx. EUR 27,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A very large and extremely rare Cizhou painted arrow vase, touhu, Ming dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the related form, albeit with fewer and larger arrow holes and lacking the animal masks, and similar size (40 cm).
点此阅读中文翻译 (Chinese Translation)
明代青花投壺式瓶
中國，十六世紀至十七世紀初。胎體緊密，細長頸，豐腹下垂，圈足口，部有六個管狀箭孔，肩部一周有六個獅頭。外壁裝飾精美，青花描繪園中文人雅集；頸部修飾花鳥紋；足飾蓮瓣紋。
科學鑑定分析報告：牛津認證公司於2024年2月15日出具的熱釋光分析報告，根據樣本編號P124b27，確定兩個樣本的燒製日期為400至600年前。 該拍品隨附一份由Helen Mason簽署的牛津鑑定報告副本。
來源：法國巴黎私人收藏。
品相：有舊磨損、燒製不規則，破裂的氣泡、黑點、燒製裂紋、釉面凹陷和窯砂。頸部有一條水平的釉線，顯示出填充物，在內部也可見釉線。腳部有輕微的平滑缺口和輕微劃痕。足部有兩個鑽孔作為科學鑑定樣本。
重量：3,136 克
尺寸：高 38.3 厘米
投壺最早應是東週與春秋左近出現，源流本為“射禮”。最早投壺不是遊戲，而是諸侯國間的國家禮儀。投壺成為遊戲，是戰國後期才開始的。此等遊戲，在皇家燕宴，士大夫、文人們宴飲或雅集之際，必得以“雅歌”伴“投壺”助興。其投壺技巧百出，有背向反投者，遮目盲投者，隔了屏風越投者，或各種舞蹈技藝投壺者等等，不一而足。
《禮記》中記錄的精心製定的儀式和復雜的規則。明代投壺，又有新的發展，投擲技法百有四十，這在《投壺奏矢》一書中有載。1619年著名的《金瓶梅》書中，就描寫了西門慶勾引潘金蓮的場景，其中就有投壺的遊戲。有關投壺遊戲的進一步討論，請參見 Isabelle Lee，《Touhu：Three Millennia of the Chinese Arrow Vase and the Game of Pitch-pot'，Transactions of the Oriental Ceramic Society》，卷56，1991年第2冊，頁13-7。
文獻比較:
比較一件相近的約1522-1566年明代磁州投壺，高40 厘米， 收藏於大英博物館，館藏編號1937,0716.74。
拍賣比較：
形制：相近
拍賣：Galerie Zacke，維也納，2022年9月29日，lot 106
價格：EUR 26,000（相當今日EUR 27,500）
描述：明代罕見磁州窯彩繪投壺
專家註釋：比較相近的外形，儘管箭孔較少，而且沒有獅頭，以及相似的尺寸 (40 厘米)。
Zacke Live Online Bidding
Our online bidding platform makes it easier than ever to bid in our auctions! When you bid through our website, you can take advantage of our premium buyer's terms without incurring any additional online bidding surcharges.
To bid live online, you'll need to create an online account. Once your account is created and your identity is verified, you can register to bid in an auction up to 12 hours before the auction begins.
Intended Spend and Bid Limits
When you register to bid in an online auction, you will need to share your intended maximum spending budget for the auction. We will then review your intended spend and set a bid limit for you. Once you have pre-registered for a live online auction, you can see your intended spend and bid limit by going to 'Account Settings' and clicking on 'Live Bidding Registrations'.
Your bid limit will be the maximum amount you can bid during the auction. Your bid limit is for the hammer price and is not affected by the buyer’s premium and VAT. For example, if you have a bid limit of €1,000 and place two winning bids for €300 and €200, then you will only be able to bid €500 for the rest of the auction. If you try to place a bid that is higher than €500, you will not be able to do so.
Online Absentee and Telephone Bids
You can now leave absentee and telephone bids on our website!
Absentee Bidding
Once you've created an account and your identity is verified, you can leave your absentee bid directly on the lot page. We will contact you when your bids have been confirmed.
Telephone Bidding
Once you've created an account and your identity is verified, you can leave telephone bids online. We will contact you when your bids have been confirmed.
Classic Absentee and Telephone Bidding Form
You can still submit absentee and telephone bids by email or fax if you prefer. Simply fill out the Absentee Bidding/Telephone bidding form and return it to us by email at office@zacke.at or by fax at +43 (1) 532 04 52 20. You can download the PDF from our Upcoming Auctions page.
How-To Guides
How to Create Your Personal Zacke Account
How to Register to Bid on Zacke Live
How to Leave Absentee Bids Online
How to Leave Telephone Bids Online
中文版本的操作指南
创建新账号
注册Zacke Live在线直播竞拍（免平台费）
缺席投标和电话投标
Third-Party Bidding
We partner with best-in-class third-party partners to make it easy for you to bid online in the channel of your choice. Please note that if you bid with one of our third-party online partners, then there will be a live bidding surcharge on top of your final purchase price. You can find all of our fees here. Here's a full list of our third-party partners:
- 51 Bid Live
- EpaiLive
- ArtFoxLive
- Invaluable
- LiveAuctioneers
- the-saleroom
- lot-tissimo
- Drouot
Please note that we place different auctions on different platforms. For example, in general, we only place Chinese art auctions on 51 Bid Live.
Bidding in Person
You must register to bid in person and will be assigned a paddle at the auction. Please contact us at office@zacke.at or +43 (1) 532 04 52 for the latest local health and safety guidelines.
