A SMALL QINGBAI CENSER AND COVER, NORTHERN SONG DYNASTY
China, 960-1127. Standing on a short tapered foot, the deep rounded sides carved with overlapping petals. The domed cover of the incense burner is pierced with three rows of apertures encircling the central bud finial, all above an openworked pattern of radiating petals. The white ware of the censer and cover is glazed with a vitreous, bubble-suffused pale-blue glaze.


Provenance:
Brian Page, Brighton, United Kingdom. Grahame Clarke, acquired from the above in 2008, and thence by descent in the family. Grahame Clarke (1940-2014) was a noted ceramic artist, influenced by pioneers of small-scale studio pottery such as Harry Davis, Bernard Leach, and Shoji Hamada. In 1974, he founded Highland Stoneware in Lochinver, Scotland. Driven by the historic and natural environment, his work combined the durable porcelain body, modeled on ancient century Chinese pottery, with a free hand-painted style inspired by Delftware blue-and-white decorations of the 16th and 17th centuries. His passion for ceramics led him to collect artifacts from all over the globe, but especially from China. Inspired by historic porcelain, Clarke’s work itself ended up in museums like the Victoria & Albert, exemplifying the modern movement of micro-kiln ceramic arts.

Condition:
Very good condition with minor old wear and expected firing irregularities, few shallow chips, some of which have smoothened over time.

Weight: 158.8 g
Dimensions: Height 8.9 cm


Literature comparison:

Compare a related Qingbai censer with an openwork cover, 6 cm high, dated to the Northern Song dynasty, in the Art Institute of Chicago, accession number 2013.190. Compare a related tripod censer with pierced cover which was excavated in 1981 from a site near Jingdezhen in Boyang county and is now in the Jiangxi Provincial Museum, illustrated in Zhongguo Taoci Quanji: Song (The Complete Works of Chinese Ceramics: Song Dynasty), Volume 8, Shanghai, 2000, no. 171. Compare a related Qingbai censer, illustrated in Selected Masterpieces of the Manno Collection, Osaka, 1988, no. 84. Compare a related Qingbai openwork censer, illustrated in Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, Volume I, London, 1994, page 329, no. 611.




北宋青白小蓋爐

中國，960-1127年。香爐的圓蓋中央有花蕾鈕，穿有三排小圓孔。爐身外壁刻有重疊花瓣紋。香爐通體施青白色釉，釉色瑩潤。


來源：
英國布萊頓Brian Page收藏；Grahame Clarke 於 2008年 年從上述人士手中收購，並自此在同一家族傳承。Grahame Clarke（1940-2014年）是一位著名的陶瓷藝術家，受到 Harry Davis、Bernard Leach 和 Shoji Hamada 等陶藝風格的影響。1974 年，他在蘇格蘭洛欽弗創立了 高land Stoneware。在歷史和自然環境的推動下，他的作品將仿照中國古代陶器的耐用瓷體與受十六世紀和十七世紀代爾夫特青花裝飾啟發的自由手繪風格結合起來。他對陶瓷的熱情促使他收集來自世界各地的陶瓷，尤其是來自中國的文物。受到古物的啟發，Clarke的作品本身最終被收藏在維多利亞和阿爾伯特博物館等博物館。

品相：
狀況極好，有輕微磨損、製造不規則和小缺口。

重量：158.8 克
尺寸：高 8.9 厘米


文獻比較:

比較一件相近的北宋青白小蓋爐，高6 厘米，收藏於芝加哥藝術博物館，館藏編號2013.190。比較一件相近的三足爐，1981年出土於景德鎮 ，現藏於江西博物館，見《Zhongguo Taoci Quanji: Song (The Complete Works of Chinese Ceramics: Song Dynasty)》，卷8，上海，2000年，編號171。比較一件相近 Qingbai censer，illustrated in Selected Masterpieces of the Manno Collection，Osaka，1988，編號84. 比較一件相近的青白小蓋爐 ，見《Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection》，卷 I，倫敦，1994年，頁329，編號611。