PRESS RELEASE | HONG KONG | 12 May 2016

FROM SUI TO SONG

CLASSICAL CHINESE WORKS OF ART SPANNING 7 CENTURIES

Hong Kong – For the first time this Spring, Christie’s will present a unique themed sale entitled Classical Chinese Art from the Sui to the Song Dynasties. Spanning seven centuries, the sale features 35 exceptional lots, selected for their cultural significance, and epitomizes the height of refinement of their era. The sale is a true celebration of Chinese art, offering collectors a chance to re-discover the beauty and cultural richness of these dynasties.

Chi Fan Tsang, Senior Vice President and Head of Department, commented “This season we decided to look back and revisit a golden period in Chinese history, most notably the cosmopolitan Tang period, and the scholarly and classical Song period. As society flourished during these eras, we see cultural advancement, societal innovation, and literary pursuits reaching new heights, which is wonderfully embodied by the exquisite works on offer this season.”

One of the season’s masterpieces that will undoubtedly entice collectors is the Guan mallow-shaped washer from the Southern Song Dynasty. This brush washer is formed with ten sections, each in the shape of a mallow petal, flaring from a slightly recessed base with six spur marks. The washer is covered overall with a thick pale bluish glaze, suffused with a dense network of russet crackles thinning on the mouth rim.

This exceptional Guan ware brush washer is part of the remarkable history of imperial ceramics in the Southern Song period and also reflects the aesthetic traditions of the Song court. Initially made for the court of the Southern Song emperors, it belongs today to a group of wares so highly esteemed by successive generations of connoisseurs that it was to influence the ceramics made for the Chinese imperial court well into the Qing dynasty.

The Guan washer has been previously owned by Sir Harry (1891-1977) and Lady Garner, followed by Dr. Mortimer D. Sackler (1916-2010) and exhibited at The Oriental Ceramic Society, Ju and Kuan Wares, in London 1952, and Palazzo Ducale, Venice 1954.

Another highlight is a candle stand which is powerfully modelled as a caparisoned elephant standing foursquare on a rectangular lotus plinth. The trunk touches the ground while its head wears an elaborate harness with roundels and leaf-shaped pendants. It is richly decorated with florettes and bells, and secured with studded straps under the chest, torso and tail, supporting on its back a compressed globular jar covered with a lotus leaf.

White-glazed candle stands modelled as large elephants like this lot are the rarest and most impressive of early white wares. This white-glazed ‘elephant’ candle stand distinguishes itself among all other known examples for the sophistication in its modelling and its well-preserved lustrous glaze. Moreover, the white elephant is revered in Buddhism as a symbol of strength and high morality.

Another important highlight is a rare Ruzhou celadon rectangular dish made at the Zhanggongxiang kilns from the Northern Song Dynasty. This is the only known Zhanggongxiang example of this shape to date. Recent excavations at the Zhanggongxiang kilns have shed light on the broad array of celadon ceramics made in the Ruzhou area in Northern China during the Song dynasty. This superbly potted dish, applied with the finest crackled celadon glaze, is undoubtedly of exceptional academic, historic as well as aesthetic value.

Notes to Editors:

CLASSICAL CHINESE ART FROM THE SUI TO THE SONG DYNASTIES

Auction : 1 June 2016

Venue : Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, No. 1 Expo Drive, Wanchai

Preview : 26 May – 28 May - 10:30am – 6:00pm

29-31 May 10:30am – 6:30pm           

PRESS CONTACT: Lee Bingle | +852 2978 9966| lbingle@christies.com