A rare white-glazed jar and cover, Sui dynasty | 隋 白釉蓋罐

Japanese Private Collection, Kansai Region.

日本關西私人收藏

Jars of this form were created throughout the Tang dynasty in sancai, but it was during the earlier Sui dynasty that they reached the pinnacle of quality and beauty, with the high kaolin content of the local clay at the kilns of the northern kilns enabling the production of whitewares of the highest caliber. It is rare to find such a jar preserved in good condition, and all the rarer, complete with its original cover.

While the emergence of stonewares can be traced back to earlier dynasties, major advances in firing techniques occurred in the 6th century. According to the Palace Museum, Beijing, the white wares excavated from the tomb of Li Jingxun of the fourth year of Daye in the Sui dynasty (608), which belonged to the daughter of an official with close connections to the court, demonstrate a huge improvement in glaze quality compared to the white wares unearthed from the tomb of General Fan Cui of the sixth year of Wuping in the Northern Qi dynasty (575). The present jar and cover, with its pale whitish-green glaze and large body skillfully executed, represents the technical advances made during the Sui period, which laid a solid foundation for the further development of white wares in later dynasties, such as Ding ware of the Song.

Distinguished by its glaze, size and shape, this vessel has several recorded counterparts. Compare a white-glazed jar of this form, with a broken cover, excavated from a Sui tomb at Houchuan, Henan and now in the Chinese History Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Zhongguo Taoci Quanji: Sui Tang [The Complete Works of Chinese Ceramics: Sui and Tang Dynasties], vol. 5, Shanghai, 2000, pl. 13. Compare also a jar illustrated by Bo Gyllensvard, Oriental Ceramics: The World's Great Collections, vol. 8, The Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockholm, Tokyo, 1982, fig. 41, from the collection of King Gustaf VI Adolf, no. 1814. See also a jar and cover sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 29th November 2022, lot 2909, and another without a cover, illustrated in Chinese Ceramics A.D. 400-1400: Selections from an American Collection, J.J Lally & Co., New York, 2007, cat. no. 2, sold at Christie's New York, 29th March 2023, lot 72.