A RARE LONGQUAN CELADON ‘PEONY’ BARREL-FORM JAR AND COVER, SOUTHERN SONG-YUAN DYNASTY
This lot is from a single owner collection and is therefore offered without reserve

China, 1127-1368. Finely potted with gently curved sides rising from a recessed base, delicately molded around the exterior with a continuous undulating leafy peony scroll and a pair of taotie-mask handles suspending fixed rings, all above a band of whorl bosses at the base, the slightly domed cover centered with a large peony flower head and encircled at the rim by a band of whorl bosses, the flush-fitting cover similarly decorated with raised whorls, the top centered by a peony flower head. Covered overall in a soft bluish-green glaze thinning at the edges of the decoration.

Provenance: The Collection of Sam and Myrna Myers, Paris, France. Acquired between circa 1965-2012.
Condition: Excellent condition with minor wear and firing irregularities including dark spots, pitting, and glaze recesses.

Weight: 747.2 g
Dimensions: Diameter 14.6 cm

The barrel-form jar, known as a drum-form water vessel in Japan, is one of the rarest Longquan celadon forms. The decoration on the present barrel-form jar (and others in this group) is executed in a popular method used at the time, that of ‘sprig’ molding, where the decoration was molded separately and then applied to the surface before glazing.

Longquan ware is known for its large-scale production, especially during the Yuan dynasty when production increased, with some 300 kilns active in the Longquan area from the Dayao, Jincun and Xikou kiln complexes in the west to those on the Ou and Songxi rivers. This massive production not only supplied domestic market for middle- and upper-class patrons, but also supplied the international market, particularly the Middle East and Japanese clientele. More than three thousand Longquan celadon wares were also found in the cargo of the Sinan wreck, which was on its way from Ningbo to Japan in 1323, when the ship foundered off the coast of Korea. See R. Scott, Imperial Taste: Chinese Ceramics from the Percival David Foundation, Los Angeles, 1989, pp. 50-51. The rarity of barrel-form jars might be ascribed to the special function they had, and they were probably made under special commissions.

Literature comparison:
Compare a closely related Longquan barrel-form jar, 20.9 cm diameter, dated Yuan dynasty, 14^th century, from the Percival David Foundation and now in the British Museum, registration number PDF.225. Compare a closely related Longquan barrel-form jar, 22.3 cm diameter, dated Southern Song-Yuan dynasty, 13^th-14^th century, in the Seikado Bunko Art Museum. The Seikado Bunko jar and cover is highly prized in Japan and is arguably one of the most iconic masterpieces of Longquan celadon in the world. It is designated as an Important Cultural Property in Japan and was formerly in the collection of the most prominent Edo Period (1603-1868) merchant family, the Kounoike family.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 13 September 2019, lot 1047
Price: USD 300,000 or approx. EUR 264,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A very rare large Longquan celadon barrel-form jar, Southern Song-Yuan dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form, decoration, and glaze. Note the different size (23.9 cm) and missing cover.