11th Oct, 2023 11:00
THREE-DAY AUCTION - Fine Chinese Art / 中國藝術集珍 / Buddhism & Hinduism
86
A RARE BLUE AND WHITE ‘FOUR IMMORTALS’ JAR, JIAJING MARK AND PERIOD, CHINA, 1522-1566
嘉靖款及年代青花四仙罐
€20,000
€40,000
A buyer’s premium of 30.00% (including VAT) applies to the hammer price of this lot if your bid is successful.
Of quadrilobed form with swelling shoulders and a petite upright neck, painted in deep cobalt blue with four Daoist immortals: Li Tieguai with his iron crutch and gourd vessel, Liu Hai with his three-legged toad, and the Hehe twins Hanshan and Shide, one of whom is holding up a scroll with a smile on his face, all amid pine trees and rockwork, below a scrolling cloud border at the shoulder and ruyi clouds on the neck. The base with an underglaze-blue six-character mark da Ming Jiajing nianzhi and of the period.
Provenance: Solveig & Anita Gray, London, United Kingdom, 1998. The Elaine Whewell collection of Asian ceramics, North Berwick, Scotland, assembled since the 1990s, acquired from the above. Three old labels along the base and interior of the mouth, ‘Solveig & Anita Gray, 58 Davies Street London, W1Y 2L P’ ‘Solveig & Anita Gray, Jiajing 1522-66,’ and ‘Solveig & Anita Gray, 4800.’ Copies of the original invoice, receipt, and declaration of antiquity from Solveig & Anita Gray, all dated 9 December 1998, confirming the dating above and describing the present lot as an “Extremely Rare Jiajing Jar”, accompany this lot.
Condition: Very good condition, commensurate with age, with expected old wear and firing irregularities. Two very short hairlines to the rim. A small star-shaped glaze line to the interior, which is not visible on the outside. The rim and foot may have been minimally smoothened.
Weight: 416.1 g
Dimensions: Height 11.9 cm
Please click here to read the full description
Li Tieguai aka ‘Iron Crutch Li’ appears as a lame beggar supported by an iron crutch. He carries a gourd which holds medicine that cures the sick and ailing. Traditionally, he has been seen as the protector of physicians. Although he may appear ugly and is generally considered irascible and ill-tempered, according to Chinese mythology, he was benevolent to the poor, sick, and needy. Li had magical powers and spent much time outside his body, traveling in the celestial regions. Once, when he was absent for some time, his disciple buried his body. On returning to Earth, the immortal’s soul entered the body of a beggar – the first good person he saw.
Liu Hai is usually depicted as a young man with bangs, and his eponym means ‘bangs’ or ‘fringe’ in Modern Standard Chinese. Traditional Chinese and Japanese art frequently represents Liu with a string of square-holed cash coins and a mythical three-legged toad (chanchu), which is said to exist only on the moon, which it swallows during the eclipse. In the present day, this toad is known as the Jin Chan, literally meaning ‘Money Toad’, and Liu Hai is considered an embodiment of Caishen, the God of Wealth.
Literature comparison:
Compare a related jar decorated with the Four Immortals, dated Jiajing period, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Blue and White Porcelain and Underglazed Red (i), Shanghai, 2000, pl. 99. Compare a closely related jar depicting the Four Immortals honoring the god of longevity, in the Riesco collection, illustrated in Chinese Blue and White Porcelain, London, 1954, cat. no. 163.
Auction result comparison:
Type: Near-identical
Auction: Sotheby’s New York, 16 September 2009, lot 189
Price: USD 80,500 or approx. EUR 105,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A rare small blue and white quadrilobed ‘four immortals’ jar, Ming dynasty, Jiajing mark and period
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form, subject, and decoration.
点此阅读中文翻译 (Chinese Translation)
嘉靖款及年代青花四仙罐
短頸，豐肩，圈足，罐身呈海棠口式。青花描繪有四位道教仙人：手持鐵拐葫蘆的李鐵拐，持三足蟾蜍的劉海，與寒山拾得二仙，手持捲軸，面帶微笑。四周松樹石壁，肩下卷雲紋，頸部云紋。 圈足内青花六字款“大明嘉靖年製”。
來源：英國倫敦Solveig & Anita Gray，1998年；蘇格蘭北貝里克Elaine Whewell 亞洲陶瓷收藏，自二十世紀九十年代以來收藏，購自上述藝廊。三個舊標籤：“Solveig & Anita Gray，58 Davies Street 倫敦，W1Y 2L P”、“Solveig & Anita Gray，Jiajing 1522-66”和“Solveig & Anita Gray，4800”。隨附Solveig & Anita Gray 出具的原始發票、收據和聲明等文件的副本，均註明日期為1998 年12 月9 日，確認了上述日期，並將本拍品描述為“極其罕見的嘉靖罐”。
品相：狀況極好，有磨損，邊緣有兩條很短的冲線。內部有一條小釉線，從外部看不到。邊緣和足部可能已進行了抛光處理。
重量：416.1 克
尺寸：高 11.9 厘米
文獻比較:
比較一件相近的嘉靖款年代四仙人罐，收藏於北京故宮博物院，見《故宮博物院藏文物真品全集‧青花瓷》，上海，2000年，圖99。比較一件非常相近的四仙和壽老罐，收藏於Riesco collection，見《Chinese Blue and White Porcelain》，倫敦，1954年，圖錄編號163。
拍賣比較：
形制：幾乎相同
拍賣：紐約蘇富比，2009年9月16日，lot 189
價格：USD 80,500（相當今日EUR 105,000）
描述：嘉靖款及年代青花四仙人罐
專家註釋：比較非常相近的外形、主題和雕刻。
Of quadrilobed form with swelling shoulders and a petite upright neck, painted in deep cobalt blue with four Daoist immortals: Li Tieguai with his iron crutch and gourd vessel, Liu Hai with his three-legged toad, and the Hehe twins Hanshan and Shide, one of whom is holding up a scroll with a smile on his face, all amid pine trees and rockwork, below a scrolling cloud border at the shoulder and ruyi clouds on the neck. The base with an underglaze-blue six-character mark da Ming Jiajing nianzhi and of the period.
Provenance: Solveig & Anita Gray, London, United Kingdom, 1998. The Elaine Whewell collection of Asian ceramics, North Berwick, Scotland, assembled since the 1990s, acquired from the above. Three old labels along the base and interior of the mouth, ‘Solveig & Anita Gray, 58 Davies Street London, W1Y 2L P’ ‘Solveig & Anita Gray, Jiajing 1522-66,’ and ‘Solveig & Anita Gray, 4800.’ Copies of the original invoice, receipt, and declaration of antiquity from Solveig & Anita Gray, all dated 9 December 1998, confirming the dating above and describing the present lot as an “Extremely Rare Jiajing Jar”, accompany this lot.
Condition: Very good condition, commensurate with age, with expected old wear and firing irregularities. Two very short hairlines to the rim. A small star-shaped glaze line to the interior, which is not visible on the outside. The rim and foot may have been minimally smoothened.
Weight: 416.1 g
Dimensions: Height 11.9 cm
Please click here to read the full description
Li Tieguai aka ‘Iron Crutch Li’ appears as a lame beggar supported by an iron crutch. He carries a gourd which holds medicine that cures the sick and ailing. Traditionally, he has been seen as the protector of physicians. Although he may appear ugly and is generally considered irascible and ill-tempered, according to Chinese mythology, he was benevolent to the poor, sick, and needy. Li had magical powers and spent much time outside his body, traveling in the celestial regions. Once, when he was absent for some time, his disciple buried his body. On returning to Earth, the immortal’s soul entered the body of a beggar – the first good person he saw.
Liu Hai is usually depicted as a young man with bangs, and his eponym means ‘bangs’ or ‘fringe’ in Modern Standard Chinese. Traditional Chinese and Japanese art frequently represents Liu with a string of square-holed cash coins and a mythical three-legged toad (chanchu), which is said to exist only on the moon, which it swallows during the eclipse. In the present day, this toad is known as the Jin Chan, literally meaning ‘Money Toad’, and Liu Hai is considered an embodiment of Caishen, the God of Wealth.
Literature comparison:
Compare a related jar decorated with the Four Immortals, dated Jiajing period, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Blue and White Porcelain and Underglazed Red (i), Shanghai, 2000, pl. 99. Compare a closely related jar depicting the Four Immortals honoring the god of longevity, in the Riesco collection, illustrated in Chinese Blue and White Porcelain, London, 1954, cat. no. 163.
Auction result comparison:
Type: Near-identical
Auction: Sotheby’s New York, 16 September 2009, lot 189
Price: USD 80,500 or approx. EUR 105,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A rare small blue and white quadrilobed ‘four immortals’ jar, Ming dynasty, Jiajing mark and period
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form, subject, and decoration.
点此阅读中文翻译 (Chinese Translation)
嘉靖款及年代青花四仙罐
短頸，豐肩，圈足，罐身呈海棠口式。青花描繪有四位道教仙人：手持鐵拐葫蘆的李鐵拐，持三足蟾蜍的劉海，與寒山拾得二仙，手持捲軸，面帶微笑。四周松樹石壁，肩下卷雲紋，頸部云紋。 圈足内青花六字款“大明嘉靖年製”。
來源：英國倫敦Solveig & Anita Gray，1998年；蘇格蘭北貝里克Elaine Whewell 亞洲陶瓷收藏，自二十世紀九十年代以來收藏，購自上述藝廊。三個舊標籤：“Solveig & Anita Gray，58 Davies Street 倫敦，W1Y 2L P”、“Solveig & Anita Gray，Jiajing 1522-66”和“Solveig & Anita Gray，4800”。隨附Solveig & Anita Gray 出具的原始發票、收據和聲明等文件的副本，均註明日期為1998 年12 月9 日，確認了上述日期，並將本拍品描述為“極其罕見的嘉靖罐”。
品相：狀況極好，有磨損，邊緣有兩條很短的冲線。內部有一條小釉線，從外部看不到。邊緣和足部可能已進行了抛光處理。
重量：416.1 克
尺寸：高 11.9 厘米
文獻比較:
比較一件相近的嘉靖款年代四仙人罐，收藏於北京故宮博物院，見《故宮博物院藏文物真品全集‧青花瓷》，上海，2000年，圖99。比較一件非常相近的四仙和壽老罐，收藏於Riesco collection，見《Chinese Blue and White Porcelain》，倫敦，1954年，圖錄編號163。
拍賣比較：
形制：幾乎相同
拍賣：紐約蘇富比，2009年9月16日，lot 189
價格：USD 80,500（相當今日EUR 105,000）
描述：嘉靖款及年代青花四仙人罐
專家註釋：比較非常相近的外形、主題和雕刻。
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Auction: THREE-DAY AUCTION - Fine Chinese Art / 中國藝術集珍 / Buddhism & Hinduism, 11th Oct, 2023
Join Zacke for a three-day live auction event featuring 741 works of art from countries as large as China, India, or Indonesia, from the Himalayan valleys and plateaus of Tibet, Nepal, Kashmir, and Pakistan, from the Southeast Asian peoples of Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Myanmar, as well as from the steppes of Central Asia to the plains of Mongolia, and from the Northern Indian basin to the island of Sri Lanka.
A pinnacle event of our autumn calendar – the flagship auction – will take place on Day 1 of the sale (lots 1-247), featuring many important pieces from renowned collections, among them an Imperial Falangcai miniature vase (lot 102), the Ming Dynasty’s largest surviving Zitan figure (lot 187), and an Imperial robe made for the Empress Dowager Cixi (lot 201).
The general auction will follow on Day 2 (lots 248-436) and on Day 3 (lots 437-748), offering items for avid art collectors and first-time buyers alike.
Notable Collector’s Provenances include the Zande Lou Collection, built by J.M. Hu, one of the world’s greatest connoisseurs of Chinese ceramics; James J. Lally, New York, a preeminent scholar of Asian art; Dr. Wou Kiuan, diplomat and founder of the Wou Lien-Pai museum; Zhang Boju, China’s celebrated art collector who was also known as one of the ‘Four Young Princes’; as well as many prestigious names such as Anton Exner, Adolphe Stoclet, Adrian Maynard, Dr. Elsa Graser, Charles Oswald Lidell, George Hathaway Taber, the Chasseloup-Laubat Family, Madame Safia Sassi, John Marsing, Leonardo Vigorelli, American tattoo artist Ed Hardy, and Academy Award winners Michael Phillips and Anthony Powell.
Historic Gallery and Dealership Provenances include Spink & Son, Galerie Jacques Barrère, Michel Beurdeley, E&J Frankel, Hugh Moss, Clare Chu, the Bernheimer Collection, Bluett & Sons, John Sparks, Marsha Vargas, Robert Kleiner, S. Bernstein & Co, Cohen & Cohen, and Michael Goedhuis.
Museum Deaccessions include the Cranmore Ethnographical Museum, the Norton Museum of Art, the Walters Art Museum, the Wou Lien-Pai, the Idemitsu, and the Zelnik István Asian Gold Museum.
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