A XINGYAO WHITE-GLAZED BOTTLE VASE, FIVE DYNASTIES TO NORTHERN SONG DYNASTY
China, 10th-11th century. The rare and early Xing ware ceramic vessel is of globular form, following a leather canteen shape, the tall, gently rounded sides gathered into pairs of shallow rounded lobes and applied with twin squared lug handles with riveted ends at the shoulder and base, straddling the lobes, lightly engraved with a double-line border around the outer edge of the broad rounded shoulders, surmounted by a waisted cylindrical neck, applied overall with a smooth cream-white glaze, save for the foot, rim, and base which were left partly unglazed revealing a smooth white ware.


Provenance:
Hang Tang Cheng, Dragon House, San Francisco, USA, 1990s. A private collection in North America, acquired from the above. One side of the vase with an old collector’s label, ‘Northern Song [...] 10-11C, Early Ding [sic!] Stoneware [...] Flask Two Vertical Indentations + 4 Stray Handles 00-409 SL50029.’ A copy of a Certificate of Appraisal written and signed by Hang Tang Cheng, dating the present lot to the Northern Song to Liao dynasty, 10th-11th century, accompanies this lot. Hang Tang (Hank) Cheng is a well-respected dealer and appraiser of Asian art who ran the famous Dragon House antiques shop in San Francisco, established in 1979. Hank Cheng worked closely with museums, institutions, and auction houses including the Asian Art Museum, Bonhams, and Christie’s.

Condition:
Very good condition with only minor old wear and few tiny nicks to the foot rim.

Weight: 280 g
Dimensions: Height 12 cm

With a padded silk box and cover. (2)


Literature comparison:

Compare the white porcelain vase of this form in the collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei, published in Illustrated Catalogue of Sung Dynasty Porcelain in the National Palace Museum: Ting Ware and Ting-Type ware, Taipei, 1973, no. 1. Compare a closely related white-glazed handled vase, dated late Tang to Five Dynasties, 9th-10th century, from the collection of Carl Kempe (1884-1967), Sweden, illustrated and exhibited by J. J. Lally & Co. in Chinese Ceramics in Black and White, New York, 20 March-10 April 2010, no. 14. Another white porcelain vase of this distinctive form from the Avery Brundage Collection, in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, is illustrated by He Li in Chinese Ceramics: The New Standard Guide, London, 1996, p. 90, no. 136, with description on p. 120; and the same vase was previously published by Watson in Tang and Liao Ceramics, London, 1984, p. 145, no. 124. A Xingyao white porcelain vase of this same form in the collection of the Shanghai Museum is illustrated in Qiannian Xingyao (Xing Kiln in its Millennium), Beijing, 2007, p. 168, together with another example, ibid, on p. 169; and the same vase from the Shanghai Museum is also illustrated in Zhongguo taoci quanji (6) Tang-Wudai (The Complete Works of Chinese Ceramics, Vol. 6, Tang-Five Dynasties), Shanghai, 2000, p. 200, no. 225 and several other publications, including A Dictionary of Chinese Ceramics, Singapore, 2002, p. 171, where the scholar Wang Qingzhen points out that this type of white porcelain bottle in the Tang dynasty was famously called ‘the Neiqiu bottle,’ referring to the place where it was made, at the Xing kilns located in Neiqiu, Hebei province, which was under the administration of Xingzhou prefecture.


Auction result comparison:

Type: Near identical
Auction: Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 02 June 2016, lot 674
Price: HKD 750,000 or approx.
EUR 101,000
adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A white-glazed ‘Xing’ bottle vase Five Dynasties-Northern Song Dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form and glaze. Note that this vase has a restored chip to the rim.




五代至北宋邢窰白釉穿帶壺

中國，十至十一世纪。侈口、短直頸、圓肩鼓腹 ，4個“系”分別裝飾在壺身的肩部和腹部下方的位置，呈對應的2組分佈在壺身兩側，並且系的孔洞是上下相對的。通體施白色釉，足部邊緣和底部未上釉露胎。


來源：
美國舊金山Hang Tang Cheng ，Dragon House ，上世紀九十年代；北美私人收藏購於上述藝廊。壺的一面有舊收藏標簽 ‘Northern Song [...] 10-11C ，Early Ding Stoneware [...] Flask Two Vertical Indentations + 4 Stray Handles 00-409 SL50029.’ 隨附一份Hang Tang Cheng 出具並簽名的證書複印件，其上顯示這件拍品為北宋至遼代，十至十一世紀 。Hang Tang (Hank) Cheng 是一位備受尊敬的亞洲藝術品經銷商和鑑定師，他經營著舊金山著名的 Dragon House 古董店，該店成立於 1979 年。Hank Cheng 與亞洲藝術博物館、邦瀚斯和佳士得等博物館、機構和拍賣行密切合作。

品相：
狀況極好，只有輕微的磨損和足部邊緣上的小劃痕。

重量：280 克
尺寸：高12 厘米

配絲绸蓋盒。 (2)


文獻比較：

比較一件白瓷瓶，收藏於台北故宮博物院，載於《Sung Dynasty Porcelain in the National Palace Museum: Ting Ware and Ting-Type ware》，台北，1973年，編號1。比較一件非常相近的晚唐至五代九世紀至十世紀白釉帶柄花瓶，見Carl Kempe，(1884-1967），展覽於《. J. Lally & Co. in Chinese Ceramics in Black and White》，紐約，2010 年 3 月 20 日至 4 月 10 日，編號14。一件白瓷花瓶，來自於Avery Brundage收藏，現藏於舊金山亞洲藝術博物館，見He Li，《Chinese Ceramics: The New Standard Guide》，倫敦，1996年，頁90，編號136。同一個花瓶，出版於Watson，《Tang and Liao Ceramics》，倫敦，1984年，頁145，編號124。一件相同外形的邢窯白瓷瓶，上海博物館收藏，見《Qiannian Xingyao (Xing Kiln in its Millennium)》，北京，2007年，頁168，連同另一個例子，同上，頁169。一件相同的瓶，收藏於上海博物館，見《中國陶瓷全集》（6）《唐五代》（《中國陶瓷全集》第6卷，唐五代）中，上海，2000年，頁200，編號225 和其他幾本出版物，包括《A Dictionary of Chinese Ceramics》，新加坡，2002 年，頁171，學者王慶珍指出，這種唐代白瓷瓶被稱為“內丘瓶”，指的是它的產地，位於河北省內丘市的邢窯。


拍賣結果比較：

形制：幾乎相同
拍賣：香港蘇富比，2016年6月2日，lot 674
價格：HKD 750,000（相當於今日
EUR 101,000
）
描述：五代至北宋邢窰白釉四繋瓶
專家評論：比較非常相近的外形和釉面。請注意此瓶緣有修補。