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An extremely rare blue and white 'peony' jar, guan, Yuan dynasty｜元　青花纏枝牡丹紋罐

An extremely rare blue and white 'peony' jar, guan, Yuan dynasty 元　青花纏枝牡丹紋罐 of baluster form, superbly potted with wide swelling shoulders gently tapering to a slightly flared foot, surmounted by a short upright neck with lipped rim, deftly painted in vibrant tones of cobalt blue with broad strokes within pencilled outlines, depicting a broad scroll of six large peony blooms, each differently rendered with a luxuriant array of petals, borne on the same undulating scroll with attendant buds and foliage, below bands of leafy scrolling lotus and crested waves, the foot with bands of coins and lappets, covered overall with a transparent glaze slightly tinged to blue, the broad foot ring and recessed base unglazed, Japanese double wood box 35.5 cm Arts of the Silk Road, Fuji Art Museum, Fujinomiya, 1990 (introduction). 《シルクロードの美術》，富士美術館，富士宮市，1990年（序） So Gen no bijutsu [Art of the Song and Yuan Dynasties], Osaka Municipal Art Museum, Osaka, vol. 4, 1978, cat. no. 1-233. 《中國美術展シリーズ：宋元の美術》，大阪市立美術館，大阪，卷四，1978年，編號1-233 Adorned with graceful floral scrolls and crashing waves, the present jar is a superb example of the marvellous blue-and-white wares produced at the height of the Yuan dynasty. From the varied tone of its fine underglaze blue decoration to its imposing bulbous form, each feature of this piece speaks of the hand of a long-forgotten master – immortalised forever in this remarkable work of art. Thrown and glazed in Jingdezhen in the 14th century, this jar was among the first wares produced in China in the now ubiquitous blue-and-white palette. In what scholars have dubbed the ‘Mongol Corporation,’ Kublai Khan and his Yuan dynasty built upon and expanded the Silk Road like never before. Introducing paper currency and an early form of passports, the Emperor and his court empowered merchants to travel the length and breadth of the vast empire, from China to Europe, and bring with them priceless goods including silk, livestock and – crucially for our purposes – cobalt. This blue mineral, once considered as rare and valuable as gold, had long been used as a pigment in Islamic ceramics but rose to even greater heights on its arrival in China. Although some earlier blue-and-white wares from the Tang dynasty had exploited small cobalt deposits in Henan Province, it was not until the Yuan dynasty that the finest cobalt, imported from Persia, became available and gained its famed status in China. Featuring detailed decorations in a luscious variegated blue tone, the present jar exemplifies what became possible with the advent of cobalt: lifelike shading and brushwork reminiscent of ink painting, rendered in a rich enchanting blue. While many blue-and-white pieces from this early period make reference to the bold strokes and fine detailing of ink paintings, the central design of the present lot makes the connection particularly apparent. Depicting a single peony bloom from four different angles – each view linked to the next by a scrolling branch – the design functions much like a narrative on a painted handscroll, to be ‘read’ by turning the vessel. This ingenious design, largely abandoned by the mid-fifteenth century, speaks to the immense creativity of the early Jingdezhen potters and the relative artistic freedom afforded to them by the Yuan court. The lively band of serpentine waves at the neck of the jar, swirling and breaking with dark black bubbles, is also symptomatic of the creative liberty of the Yuan. Termed ‘Type Five’ waves by Steven P. Gaskin, this motif is yet another example of the free-spirited and playful nature of Yuan dynasty brushwork that soon faded with the arrival of more formal Ming designs; see Gaskin, ‘The David Vases: Considering Serpentine Waves on Yuan Blue-and-White’, Orientations, vol. 46, no. 4, May 2015, pp. 81-89, where he cites two larger jars with similar bubbling waves (and peony designs): one in the British Museum with a metal rim mount, illustrated in Jessica Harrison-Hall, Catalogue of The Late Yuan and Ming Ceramics in The British Museum, London, 2001, no. 1:31; and the other in the Cleveland Museum of Art (acc.no. 1962.154). Although blue-and-white jars of related design are well attested in museum collections, the present combination of peonies and waves with a diaper band is extremely rare, if not unique. Compare four widely published jars of very similar design but with a slightly narrower shoulder decoration and a scroll border in place of the present diaper: one preserved in the Shanghai Museum, illustrated in Zhongguo taoci quanji [The complete works of Chinese ceramics], vol. 11, Shanghai, 2000, pl. 158; the second in the Shanxi Provincial Museum, in Zhongguo wenwu jinghua daquan: Taoci juan [Complete masterpieces of Chinese cultural relics: Ceramics volume], Taipei, 1993, no. 551; the third, from a Japaneseprivate collection, in Sekai tōji zenshū / Ceramic Art of the World, vol. 13, Tokyo, 1981, pl. 123; and the fourth sold in our London rooms, 7th June 1988, lot 211A; again at Christie’s Hong Kong, 25th October 1993, lot 716, and again in our New York rooms, 30th March 2006, lot 61. Another jar of very closely related design but with the diaper band instead at the base of the neck was sold in our Amsterdam rooms, 15th March 1983, lot 2003. 造於元代青花工藝之巔，瓷罐造形圓潤豐美，青花細緻亮麗，色調濃淡，層次豐富，器身纏枝牡丹紋與海水紋，端雅相映，銘記元瓷工藝之最，雋永悠長。 本品造於十四世紀景德鎮，可謂中國出產的首批青花瓷。當時，忽必烈所領導之元帝國版圖，沿著絲路，橫跨歐亞，前所未見。始創通用紙幣、符牌，方便商人於廣大國境內旅行與發展貿易，地理上東西方的珍貴貨品流通頻繁，包括絲綢、牲口，以及此處要述的重要陶瓷發色原料，鈷藍。 鈷藍，曾一度與黃金一樣珍稀昂貴，長久以來作為伊斯蘭陶瓷的重要發色劑，而傳入中國後，鈷料的重要性更是發揚光大。雖然青花裝飾的陶瓷，可上溯至唐代，使用河南開採的鈷礦，然而元代時，從波斯傳入品質精良的鈷藍，促使青花瓷繪一日千里，享譽中國。本品可證，青花發色艷麗光耀，色澤豐富，淡濃層次、運筆賦形，皆隨心所欲，宛若水墨畫一般。 此時期青花瓷繪，多以大膽筆觸與精緻細節著稱，本品主要紋飾亦彰顯此特色。四方各綴以盛開華美的牡丹，彼此之間以纏枝花葉相連，連綿不絕，好似卷軸繪畫，吸引目光循著紋飾環繞細賞。如此紋飾設計，反映景德鎮瓷匠之無窮創意，並得益於元代朝廷對於工藝管理相對寬鬆，相類紋飾持續沿用至十五世紀中期。 罐頸飾波濤洶湧的海水紋，漩渦、碎浪，水花四濺，動感十足，亦是元代文藝氣氛自由的見證。Steven P. Gaskin 歸類此為「Type Five」海水紋，突顯筆趣，風格自由奔放，屬元代特徵，明代初期已失，取而代之的是更嚴謹且制式化的紋飾；Gaskin，〈The David Vases: Considering Serpentine Waves on Yuan Blue-and-White〉，《Orientations》，卷46，號4，2015年5月，頁81-89，此處作者比較兩件元青花牡丹紋大罐之類同海水紋，其一為大英博物館藏品，口沿有金屬包扣，錄於霍吉淑，《Catalogue of The Late Yuan and Ming Ceramics in The British Museum》，倫敦，2001年，編號1：31；另一例為克利夫蘭藝術博物館，藏品編號：1962.154。 元代青花類例，雖可見於博物館藏品，如本品之牡丹紋搭配海水紋、古錢紋者，極為少見，或為孤品。比較四例，紋飾相近，肩部纏枝蓮紋較窄，卷葉紋取代古錢紋：一為上海博物館藏品，刊於《中國陶瓷全集》，卷11，上海，2000年，圖版158；另一例藏於山西博物院，《中國文物精華大觀：陶瓷卷》，台北，1993年，編號551；第三例出自日本私人收藏，出版於《世界陶磁全集》，卷13，東京，1981年，圖版123；第四例曾數度售於拍賣會，倫敦蘇富比1988年6月7日，編號211A，香港佳士得1993年10月25日，編號716，紐約蘇富比2006年3月30日，編號61。還有一例，紋飾類同，惟古錢紋飾於頸部，1983年3月15日售於阿姆斯特丹蘇富比，編號2003。

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