A JUNYAO PURPLE-SPLASHED TWIN-HANDLED JAR, JIN-YUAN DYNASTY
This lot is from a single owner collection and is therefore offered without reserve

China, 13^th century. Well potted with deep rounded sides supported on a gently spreading foot and rising to a broad shoulder and straight rim set with a pair of ear-lug handles, the exterior covered with a rich, finely crackled sky-blue glaze thinning to mushroom at the rim and handles, and highlighted at the shoulder with a streaky splash of deep lavender and crimson tone suffused with hues of malachite green, stopping irregularly above the foot on the exterior and at the base to the interior, pooling in thick drops and revealing the buff ware underneath.

Provenance: The Collection of Sam and Myrna Myers, Paris, France. Acquired between circa 1965-2012. The base lacquered with an inventory number ‘S2022’, suggesting a museum deaccession, and with a label inscribed ‘Sackler X-2549 21 C’. The label and inventory number indicate a connection of the present lot to Arthur M. Sackler and the eponymous gallery of the National Museum of Art. Arthur Mitchell Sackler (1913-1987) was one of America’s foremost art collectors, who amassed the largest Chinese art collection in the world. His name lives on in many art-related projects: the Sackler Wing that houses the Temple of Dendur at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery at Princeton University, and the Arthur M. Sackler Museum at Harvard University. At the Smithsonian Institute, the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery is a museum for Asian and Near Eastern Art. In China, the Arthur M. Sackler Museum of Art and Archaeology teaches museology to students in Beijing.
Condition: Good condition with some old wear and expected firing irregularities including glaze lines, pits, and a fine craquelure overall. One crack running from the rim to the base has been stabilized with associated minor touchups. The foot with a small old fill.

Weight: 1.5 kg
Dimensions: Diameter 19 cm

Jun ware, with its type site represented by the Juntai kilns in the former region of Junzhou, modern-day Yuxian, Henan province, was produced by many different manufactories in Henan, including the Ru kilns at Qingliangsi in Baofeng, probably from the end of the Northern Song period (960-1127) until at least the Ming dynasty (1368-1644). In comparison to the other important Song wares, the bodies of ‘Jun’ wares are more thickly potted, which is a contributing factor to the more simplistic forms as well as the viscous glazes. As water from the glaze is absorbed by the porous biscuit in the firing, the glaze appears thicker, lending itself to a more substantial covering.

The dramatic purple splash, creating a colorful contrast to the thick bright blue glaze, is a typical feature of Jun ware and particularly well accomplished in this example. Such splashes were created through the application of purplish-red pigments derived from copper, over the thick bluish glaze. These colorful marks were either painted in broad stokes or splashed over the dried blue ground before being fired in a reduction kiln, resulting in flamboyant patches of purple, lavender and tones of deep blue.

Literature comparison:
Compare a closely related Junyao splashed twin-handled jar, also dated Jin/Yuan dynasty, 13^th century, 12.5 cm tall, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, object number 1975.1.1663.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Sotheby’s New York, 21 September 2022, lot 318
Price: USD 11,970 or approx. EUR 11,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A purple-splashed 'Jun' handled jar, Northern Song-Yuan dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form and splashed glaze. Note the size (14.5 cm).

Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 8 November 2005, lot 4
Price: GBP 7,200 or approx. EUR 17,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A purple-splashed Junyao two-handled globular jar, Yuan dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form and splashed glaze. Note the size (14.5 cm).