A rare and large Longquan celadon 'kinuta' vase, Southern Song dynasty | 南宋 龍泉青釉鳳耳盤口瓶

Passed down in Japan since medieval times, and thereafter in the collection of the Daikomyo-ji temple.

自中世紀於日本傳世，後入藏於京都大光明寺

Kinuta vases of this large size are particularly rare. Celadon vases of this 'mallet' shape, which is generally known under the Japanese term kinuta, are among the most sought-after Longquan vessels. It has been suggested by several scholars that this shape, despite resembling a paper mallet, may, in fact, have been introduced to China as a glass vase or bottle from the Islamic west, possibly Iran. An Islamic glass bottle vase, probably from Nishapur, North East Iran, was among the treasures found in the tomb of the Princess of Chen, Liao dynasty, dating to no later than 1018 and illustrated in Grand View: Special Exhibition of Ju Ware from the Northern Sung Dynasty, Palace Museum, Taipei, 2007, cat. no. 25, fig. 2. Fragments of glass vessels of this shape were found in 1997 among the excavated material from the cargo of the Intan shipwreck excavated off the Indonesian coast. This ship is believed to date to the Northern Song period. Furthermore, according to the Yi Jian Zhi by the Song scholar-official Hong Mai, the emperor Huizong owned a collection of imported glass. For further discussion, see China at the Inception of the Second Millennium, Art and Culture of Sung Dynasty, 960-1279, Palace Museum, Taipei, 2000, p. 121, fig. 2. 

Compare several closely related examples, including one ranked as Japan's National Treasure and one as its Important Cultural Property, illustrated in Yutaka Mino and Katherine R. Tsiang, Ice and Green Clouds: Traditions of Chinese Celadon, Indianapolis Museum of Art, 1987, cat. no. 78 and figs 78 a-e, where the authors note that vases of this type have been valued in Japan since the Kamakura period (1192-1333).

本品器型甚大，尤為難得。此類紙槌瓶，於日本備受珍重，稱曰「砧青磁」，乃龍泉窰經典瓶式，向為藏家追慕。有學者考據稱，此瓶形源自伊朗等西亞伊斯蘭國家。可比較一件內蒙遼陳國公主墓出土伊斯蘭琉璃瓶，或產自伊朗東北部內沙布爾，年代以1018年下限，圖見《大觀．北宋汝窰特展》，故宮博物院，台北，2007年，編號25，圖2。1997年印尼印坦古代沉船出土玻璃瓶殘片，形與本瓶相同，該船應為北宋商船。宋人洪邁《夷堅志》也有相關記載，指徽宗收藏一套番國製琉璃瓶。更多詳細討論，請參見《千禧年宋代文物大展》，故宮博物院，台北，2000年，頁121，圖2。