Juliette Hammer
Sale Coordinator
Lot 116
A RARE YAOZHOU RELIEF-CARVED FLOWER-PATTERN JAR Northern Song Dynasty
15 May 2025, 11:30 BST
London, New Bond Street£40,000 - £60,000
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Chen Xie
Specialist
Edward Luper
Specialist, Chinese Works of Art
Lazarus Halstead
Head of Chinese and Asian Art, London
A RARE YAOZHOU RELIEF-CARVED FLOWER-PATTERN JAR
Northern Song Dynasty
The globular body rising from a slightly splayed foot to a waisted neck terminating at a lipped mouth-rim, carved around the exterior with a continuous scene of leafy and floral peony scrolls between a band of lotus petals and a triple grooved band, covered interiorly and exteriorly with a greyish-olive glaze, with a fitted box. 13cm (5 1/8in) high. (2).
The globular body rising from a slightly splayed foot to a waisted neck terminating at a lipped mouth-rim, carved around the exterior with a continuous scene of leafy and floral peony scrolls between a band of lotus petals and a triple grooved band, covered interiorly and exteriorly with a greyish-olive glaze, with a fitted box. 13cm (5 1/8in) high. (2).
Footnotes
北宋 耀州窯青釉刻牡丹紋罐
Provenance: Robert H. Ellsworth (1929-2014), New York, acquired in Hong Kong in 1986
Christie's New York, 17 March 2015, lot 20
來源： 安思遠（1929-2014），紐約，於1986年獲得於香港
紐約佳士得，2015年3月17日，拍品編號20
The result of Oxford thermoluminescence test no.P114n70, dated 17 December 2014, is consistent with the dating of this lot.
本拍品經牛津熱釋光檢測，編號P114n70（2014年12月17日），結果與其斷代相符
Robert H.Ellsworth (1929–2014) was a renowned American art dealer and connoisseur of Asian art, known as the 'King of Ming' for his role in popularising Chinese furniture, painting, and decorative arts in the West. His New York gallery became a destination for collectors, curators, and scholars seeking rare pieces. Over decades, he amassed a remarkable personal collection of Ming and Qing dynasty furniture, Chinese ceramics, and Himalayan bronzes. Ellsworth's legacy endures through the many artworks he placed in museums and private collections, as well as his influential publications.
The present lot is finely decorated with a deeply cut floral scrolling design, characteristic of the high-quality ceramics produced by northern Chinese kilns during the Northern Song dynasty. While similar carving techniques are observed in Cizhou and Ding wares, this style is particularly effective on Yaozhou ceramics, creating a striking dichromatic contrast between the raised and recessed areas of the decoration. Renowned as the preeminent producer of celadon in northern China, the Yaozhou kiln is distinguished by its expertly carved designs. The earliest stele dedicated to a kiln deity, the Stele to Lord Deying (德應侯碑 Deying hou bei) states: 'Its workmanship is as refined as modelled gold, and its craftsmanship as exquisite as carved and polished jade' (巧如範金，精比琢玉). Yaozhou ceramics were selected as tribute wares for the Imperial Court during the Song dynasty.
For a comparable example, see a Yaozhou ewer with similar floral scroll decoration, excavated in 1968 from Binxian and dating to the Five Dynasties/Northern Song period, illustrated in Complete Collection of Ceramic Art Unearthed in China, vol.15 (Shaanxi), Beijing, 2008, no.113. See also a related deeply carved floral jar, Northern Song/Jin dynasty, in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, illustrated by R.Kerr, Song Dynasty Ceramics, London, 2004, p.55.