Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art

12
A SMALL LONGQUAN CELADON ‘MALLET’ VASE
Southern Song dynasty, 1127-1279
南 宋 1127-1279 龙 泉 青 釉 盘 口 瓶
Dimensions: 13.5cm high
Provenance: - A private Taiwanese collection
The vase potted with a dish-shaped mouth above a cylindrical neck, the canted
shoulder and sides of the body tapering slightly toward the unglazed foot, revealing
the typical terracotta reddish brown body. The vase and the base are covered in an
even, celadon-coloured glaze.
Many examples of mallet form vases with handles have survived. However, mallet
form vases without handles are much rarer. Compare an example excavated
in Songyang County, Gushi city, now in the Longquan Municipal Museum,
illustrated in ‘Zhongguo Taoci Chuanji’, volume 8, part II ’Song’, Shanghai,
1999, pl. 76, p. 114 and discussed p. 262. A similar example, of slightly more
slender form from the Linyushanren Collection, was sold at Christie’s New York,
22 March 2019, lot 1717.