AN ARCHAISTIC BROWN-GLAZED STONEWARE STEAMER (YAN), LATE MING TO EARLY QING DYNASTY
This lot is from a single owner collection and is therefore offered without reserve

China, circa 17^th century. Heavily potted, the upper cauldron with deep, rounded sides supported on three shaped legs modeled with humanoid faces evocative of ancient taotie masks, and resting upon a thick circular disc pierced with a central aperture.

The vessel rises to a projecting rim, subtly formed to suggest the dripping of boiled substance on the interior, and fitted with two upright, rectangular handles. The exterior decorated with two encircling registers , the lower showing Guanyin reclining on a recumbent cow and Shoulao seated with regal ease, accompanied by various bodhisattvas, both seated and standing, set amid palm leaves and lingzhi fungus, while the upper presents the Buddhas of the Four Directions.

The outer surface entirely covered with a lustrous dark-brown glaze, evenly stopped around the rim on the interior to reveal the buff-colored ceramic body beneath.

Provenance: The Collection of Sam and Myrna Myers, Paris, France. Acquired between circa 1965-2012.
Condition: Good condition with surface wear and inherent firing irregularities. Expected traces of usage. Evidence of restoration, mostly to the dripping rim and applied handles. Minute chips along the foot rim. Occasional minor nicks and faint surface scratches.

Weight: 2,713 g
Dimensions: Height 23.1 cm, Diameter 15.6 cm

The present stoneware steamer derives its form from the archaic ritual vessel known as a ‘yan’, employed principally for steaming food, particularly grains, in ceremonial contexts. It comprised a deep upper bowl, or ‘zeng’, with a perforated base, set upon (or in later examples, cast integrally with) a lower, tripod-footed vessel known as a ‘li’. Boiling water contained in the lower vessel would generate steam, cooking the contents of the upper bowl.

The ‘yan’ emerged during the late Shang dynasty, c. 12th–11th century BC, and persisted as a prominent form throughout the Western Zhou and early Spring and Autumn periods, ultimately yielding to rectangular, four-legged steamers by the close of the latter. Early examples exhibited restrained ornamentation, often with narrow bands of stylized animal masks encircling the upper vessel, while the tripod legs of the ‘li’ were distinctively embellished with taotie motifs or animalistic representations.

Interest in Shang and Western Zhou ritual bronzes during the Qing dynasty extended beyond antiquarian curiosity, forming part of an official cultural and intellectual program aimed at linking Qing sovereignty to the authority and legitimacy of ancient Chinese forebears. Emperor Qianlong, for instance, assembled and cataloged thousands of antiquities in monumental undertakings such as the Xiqing Gujian, regarding these objects as tangible emblems of a historical ‘golden age’ that buttressed both his Imperial authority and cultural identity.

This antiquarian sensibility extended into the production of new objects: classical bronze forms were reinterpreted in ceramics and porcelain produced at imperial workshops such as those of Jingdezhen. Such practices not only preserved and disseminated archaic forms in alternative media but also recontextualized their ritual and aesthetic significance, rendering them accessible within a broader visual and cultural repertoire while reinforcing continuity between past and present. For a detailed discussion of this revival of archaic forms in Qing material culture, see Kexin Ma, In pursuit of temporal illusion: the reproduction and imitation of antiquities under the Yongzheng Emperor (r. 1723–35), Ming Qing Yanjiu, no. 28, 2024, p. 53–87.

Reflecting on the reverential engagement with the past in Qing-period Chinese art, Ulrich Hausmann observes:

‘Archaic bronzes and their inscriptions, the subject of centuries of epigraphic and stylistic study by literati and artists, became inseparable. Indeed, scholars composing characters have long carried in their imagination the images of ancient bronze vessels whose rubbings they meticulously examined. Generations of painters and calligraphers devoted their lifetimes to the study of these inscriptions. What could be more fitting than to adorn one’s studio with subtle allusions to this illustrious past, or to furnish the ancestral altar with vessels symbolizing the continuity of inheritance?’. Ulrich Hausmann, Later Chinese Bronzes: In Search of Later Bronzes in Documentary Chinese Works of Art, in Paul Moss and Sydney L. Moss (eds.), Scholars' Taste, 1983, p. 233. Cited in Hugh Moss and Gerard Tsang, Arts from the Scholar's Studio, 1986, cat. no. 161.

Literature comparison:
Compare a related bronze steamer (yan) with taotie masks, Western Zhou dynasty, 11th-10th century BC, in the Tokyo National Museum, collection reference number TJ-4788. Compare a related bronze steamer (yan) with taotie masks, late Shang dynasty, 11th century BC, 38.1 cm high, in the Minneapolis Institute of Art, accession number 50.46.90. Compare a related bronze steamer (yan), Qing dynasty, 18th century, 38.4 cm high, in the Walters Art Museum, accession number 54.2175.