An exceptional Junyao lavender-glazed narcissus bowl, Early Ming dynasty | 明初 鈞窰天藍釉鼓釘三足水仙盆 「二」字款

Robert Kleiner, London.

Robert Kleiner，倫敦

This form of this narcissus bowl, also known as ‘drum nail’ basins, belongs to a distinct group of flower receptacles known as ‘numbered Jun’ wares, mostly made in moulds and generally inscribed on the base with numerals from one to ten that seem to correspond to the size of the vessels. This type radiates the essence of Jun ware which derived its beauty from their robust forms which were coated in a contrasting luminous thick glaze of varied purplish-blue colouration that becomes almost transparent around the edges of the vessel where the glaze thins significantly. On the present bowl the glossy glaze is reminiscent of the deep blue ocean, infused with the characteristic markings that have become known as ‘earthworm tracks'. Highly prized throughout Chinese dynastic history since their production, these striking vessels were produced in a variety of proportions and glaze colours and are found in some of the most important museums and private collections of Chinese art. 

The dating of these wares has been long debated and continues to divide opinions between a Northern Song (960-1127), late Yuan (1279-1368) and early Ming (1368-1644) attribution. The Northern Song date, adhered to by many eminent Chinese scholars, was supported by a surface find near the kiln sites of a mould fragment for coins bearing the Xuanhe reign name (1119-1125), made of Jun ware clay. However, at scholarly conferences on the subject in Yuzhou in 2005 and in Shenzhen in 2006, the date of the coin mould itself came under scrutiny and was basically discredited, since it was shown not to be a mould for actual coins of that period and to bear a spurious reign mark of an even earlier period on the reverse. Scientific tests of sherds undertaken by the Shanghai Museum have pointed to a late Yuan or early Ming date. A newly discovered Jun ewer very similar in shape to a gold ewer from the tomb of King Zhuang of Liang, buried in 1441, has also been offered as evidence for a later dating.

Since a large body of such Junyao wares remains in the Chinese imperial collection both in the Palace Museum, Taipei, and the Palace Museum, Beijing, often inscribed after firing with the names of Palace halls, a Yuan date seems less likely, as virtually no Yuan ceramics formed part of the Qing court collection. The production of these flower vessels fits better into the early Ming dynasty, and they may well have been officially commissioned for the newly built imperial palace in Beijing in the Yongle period (1403-1424). Furthermore, these vessels do not appear in any pre-Ming text or painting, and their form is similar to early Ming celadon-glazed flower vessels, such as one included in the exhibition Xuande Imperial Porcelain Excavated at Jingdezhen, Chang Foundation, Taipei, 1998, cat. no. 39.

A slightly smaller bowl with the numeral er (two), but the exterior covered in a purple glaze, is in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Selection of Jun Ware. The Palace Museum's Collection and Archaeological Excavation, Beijing, 2013, pl. 94, together with a lavender-blue glazed bowl with the numeral yi (one) and designated to be used at Zhangchun shuwu, Yangxindian, pl. 115. See also related bowls from the Qing court collection and now preserved in the Palace Museum, Taipei, published in A Panorama of Ceramics in the Collection of the Palace Museum: Chun Ware, Taipei, 1999, for examples, a slightly smaller purple-glazed example also with the numeral er (two), pl. 31, and similar lavender-blue glazed narcissus bowls of different sizes, pls 27, 28, 30, 34 and 35. A further blue-glazed example can be found in the Idemitsu collection, Tokyo, illustrated in Chinese Ceramics in the Idemitsu Collection, Tokyo, 1987, pl. 104; and fragments of what appears to be a smaller vessel is included in the Museum of History publication The Ancient Kilns of Henan Province, Taipei, 2002, p. 196.

A lavender-blue glazed narcissus bowl with the numeral si (four), from the Reach Family Collection and the collection of Dr W. Kilgenberg, Bonn, was included in the exhibition Chinese Art from the Reach Family Collection, Eskenazi, London, 1989, cat. no. 24, and last sold in our London rooms, 11th November 2015, lot 81. A further lavender-blue glazed bowl from the collections of Harcourt Jonhstone and Enid and Brodie Lodge was sold in our London rooms in 1940 and 1972 and again in these rooms, 30th April 1996, lot 306. Compare also a smaller bowl with the numeral san (three) from the T.Y. Chao collection, sold in these rooms, 19th May 1987, lot 210; and a much smaller vessel inscribed with the numeral jiu (nine) but covered with a closely related brilliant blue glaze, from the J.M. Hu Family collection, sold in our New York rooms, 26th March 1996, lot 154.

此類水仙盆，亦稱「鼓釘」洗，其胎骨厚實，器形穩健，釉質肥潤如凝脂，色呈天藍微泛紫，器沿釉薄而漸趨透明，色澤變幻至臻至美，是為鈞瓷顯徵。本品釉色湛藍如海，偶見蟠屈粗紋，謂之「蚯蚓走泥紋」。鈞釉水仙盆自燒造伊始，便備受推崇，所出器形比例、釉色不一，見於世界頂級公私收藏。

此類鈞瓷品質卓然，其燒造年代素具爭議，眾說紛紜，以北宋、元末及明初論為主流。近鈞窰遺址處地表發掘一「宣和元寶」錢範殘器，由鈞瓷土製，可視之為北宋一說之實證，備受專家認同。然於禹州（2005年）及深圳（2006年）學術會議，錢範之年代卻遭質疑：其一，錢範與本朝元寶實物不符；其二，錢範背面還銘有前朝之偽款。此非議一出，北宋之說似不足為信。上海博物館就鈞瓷碎片進行測試，指其年代當為元末或明初。此外，可見一最新發掘之鈞壺例，器形與明梁莊王墓（1441年）出土之金壺甚為相似，此亦可視為明鈞之佐證。

大量鈞窰水仙盆後刻殿名，以分辨其所貯之地，多屬兩岸故宮清宮舊藏。然清宮舊藏乏元代遺存，難以為元朝一說作證。以此觀之，明初一說更為貼切，相若鈞窰花盆或受命於上，為永樂帝為其新都皇宮專門定燒。再者，此類器皿未見於明以前之繪畫或文字記載，而明初景德鎮所製青釉瓷盆與之器形相仿，可作旁證，見宣德地層出土例，展於《景德鎮出土明宣德官窰瓷器》，鴻禧美術館，台北，1998年，編號39。

北京故宮博物院藏一底刻「二」字之紫釉水仙盆，周徑略小，圖見《鈞窰雅集：故宮博物院珍藏及出土鈞窰瓷器薈萃》，北京，2013年，圖版94，同書並載一天藍釉「一」字例，底鐫「養心殿」及「長春書屋用」銘，圖版115。台北故宮博物院清宮舊藏另有近例，見《故宮藏瓷大系：鈞窰之部》，台北，1999年，當中包括尺寸較小、底刻「二」字款之紫釉水仙盆（圖版31），以及大小各異之天藍釉例（圖版27、28、30、34及35）。東京出光美術館也有天藍釉例可資比對，圖載於《出光美術館藏中國陶磁》，東京，1987年，圖版104。

參考 W. Kilgenberg 博士及 Reach 家族舊藏「四」字天藍釉例，展於《Chinese Art from the Reach Family Collection》，埃斯卡納齊，倫敦，1989年，編號24，多次在拍賣場上易手，最後一回為倫敦蘇富比2015年11月11日，編號81。另見 Harcourt Jonhstone 與

Enid and Brodie Lodge 伉儷遞藏之天藍釉盆，先後於1940及1972年在倫敦蘇富比易手，1996年4月30日又在於香港蘇富比拍出，編號306。再參考趙從衍典藏天藍釉例，盆徑較短，售於香港蘇富比1987年5月19日，編號210，還有胡惠春家族舊藏尺寸更小之藍釉「九」字款例，售於紐約蘇富比1996年3月26日，編號154。