The vase has an ovoid shape with sloping shoulders, straight neck flanked by a pair of loop handles, and a dish-shaped mouth. The body material is greyish white. The outer wall is decorated with carved peony flowers and leaves, divided into six sections by six vertical ridges. There are horizontal string patterns carved on the lower part of the neck and on the shoulder. It is glazed inside and outside in an olive-green glassy glaze, except for the base. It was probably produced with an accompanying lid.
The design and glaze of this vase is typical for mid-late Northern Song. Earlier Longquan vases usually had a taller, more tapering shape, and a longer neck. Also, the glaze had a lighter green hue. These vessels are thought to have been used as funerary jars, containing offerings such as food and vine.
Period: Northern Song dynasty (960-1127)
Size: Height 26 cm
Condition: Good condition. Surface wear. Some glaze losses/peeling, primarily around the foot and lower body, but also to the upper body, the handles and the rim. Small chips to the rim. Small hairline crack running from the rim, only detectable with UV-light (see pictures). Crazing and glaze cracks.
Provenance: From the collection of Johanne Huitfeldt (1932-2023) who was a well-known Norwegian art historian and curator at the Norwegian Museum of Decorative Arts and Design. She took a special interest in East Asian Art, and it was due to her that the museum in Oslo got a permanent exhibition of East Asian art and crafts in 1983.
SKU: 81
References: There is an almost identical vase in the Palace Museum illustrated in Longquan of the world – Longquan Celadon and Globalization, Vol. 1 – A history of Thousands of Years, The Forbidden City Publishing House, 2019, Plate 3. (shown in pictures 13,14)
Several comparable vessels excavated from Longquan city are illustrated in A survey on the Longquan kiln in the Northern Song dynasty, Shen Yueming & Zheng Jianming, Bejing Publishing House, 2018, Pages 118-122. (shown in pictures 15,16,17)
A similar vase was offered by Christies, New York in 2023, and a lidded example was sold by Christies in Hong Kong in 2015
More info: Longquan ware
