SACA學會 拍賣筆記 vol.1：估價腰斬，180-250萬美金 Lot 912. 臨宇山人 南宋/元哥窯葵口盤紐約佳士得2024年3月21日拍賣。（持續更新中，最近更新，全套上手圖）
點擊閱讀2024年2月相關內容：SACA學會 宋代筆記 vol.13 —《臨宇山人哥窯盤時隔9年再現2024佳士得紐約》
關鍵點：
2004年3月24日：148萬美金紐約佳士得售出（臨宇山人）
2015年12月2日：作為臨宇山人第一專場第一件拍品以4000萬港元估價流拍
2024年3月21日：180 - 250萬美金估價紐約佳士得上拍（約1440 - 1900萬港元）
宣傳重點：2015、2024均請Rosemary Scott柯玫瑰撰文，兩次文章角度不同，2024年文章比2015年更注重傳承：瓊肯三世（Stephen Junkunc III）、姚昌復（C.F.YAO）
估價超過腰斬（高估價：2015年4000萬港元 - 2024年1900萬港元）
近年市場上關於哥窯的最大新聞就是2015年12月香港佳士得臨宇山人專場，其封面的南宋哥窯葵口盤流拍，又在2024年3月21登場。最大的好奇就是，市場在這樣的經濟形勢下，會有怎樣的表現。對這些頭部、高價，傳承顯赫的藏品的市場表現的關注似乎成為藏家、經銷商津津樂道的話題。
2015年這件拍品的流拍可謂出乎絕大多數人的意料。為了給這件作品造勢預熱，佳士得花費了大量財力人力。而且早在2004年的紐約佳士得，這件作品就曾拍出過1,463,500美元（折合約一千萬人民幣）的天價。考慮到通貨膨脹因素，11年後估價在4000萬港幣也並不算高。所以大部分圈內藏家和佳士得自身都不理解，這件作品品相一流，又是流傳有序的傳世品，有過拍賣和多次展覽出版紀錄，究竟是哪裡出了問題?
事後交流下來，圈內普遍認為是目前哥窯在年代窯口認定上的爭議導致潛在買家猶豫不決並最終放棄。
實際上，哥窯的市場非常局限，學術界、藏家對哥窯的認識就是老虎洞元代地層的產品，也就是說，大家實際上否定了宋代哥窯的說法。由於沒有找到窯址，更深一步的認知需要等待時間的揭示。市場上，則對哥窯審美的追逐並沒有價格的支撐，這跟南宋官窯的市場是不一樣的。
2015年以4000萬港幣流拍，2024年紐約佳士得春拍再次現身，可以肯定的是在如今的市場情況，加上中國藏家的審美和認知逐漸成熟，估價肯定要比4000萬港幣低。讓我們拭目以待。
另外值得注意的是，在2015年，由於市場的成熟度不如如今，這件哥窯盤的傳承，瓊肯三世還未被藏家所充分認知。如今瓊肯三世已經在蘇富比、佳士得釋放了多輪藏品，他的傳承也是一個很重要的加分。
纽约佳士得 2024 拍卖会：
3月21日星期四上午9点（拍品编号801-1002） 3月22日星期五上午9点（拍品编号1101-1239）
Important Chinese Ceramics from the Linyushanren Collection / Important Chinese Art Including The Collection Of Dorothy Tapper Goldman
this sale should be referred to as DOROTHY-22642
Lot 912. 臨宇山人珍藏重要中國瓷器 南宋/元 哥窯葵口盤 （2024年3月21日拍賣）
估價：180萬 - 250萬美金
來源：
姚昌復(1884-1963)珍藏，紐約
史蒂芬 •瓊肯三世（1978年逝）珍藏
美國私人珍藏；紐約佳士得，2004年3月24日，拍品編號151
千秋庭，東京
臨宇山人珍藏
展覽：
洛杉磯郡藝術館，「Chinese Ceramics from the Prehistoric Period Through
Ch'ien Lung: A Loan Exhibition from Collections in America and Japan J 1952
年3月14日至4月27日
東京，千秋庭，「創立十周年紀念展覽會」，2006年
佳士得，「古韻天成：臨宇山人宋瓷珍藏展覽」，香港，2012年11月22至27日；紐約，2013年3月15至20日；倫敦，2013年5月10至14日
出版：
H. Trubner « Chinese Ceramics from the Prehistoric Period Through Ch'ien Lung: A Loan Exhibition from Collections in America and Japan » • I#
磯，1952年，頁69，編號111
千秋庭，《中國美術蒐集》，東京，2006年，頁48，編號57
佳士得，《古韻天成：臨宇山人末瓷珍藏展覽》，香港，2012年，頁188-191，編號80
'Chinese Classic Wares from a Japanese Collection: Song Ceramics from the Linyushanren Collection] , «Arts of Asia.» • 2014#3/4 F™I » 5197-
108 : B22
全套上手圖（來源：雲破樓）
哥窯瓷器清雅絕塵，宋人什襲而藏，今人神往如昔，追捧程度有過之而無不及。這些片紋斑駁的千年細器，豈止風靡古今藏家，更受歷代皇帝珍視。清代雍、乾兩帝的宫廷繪畫，早為此留下詳實記錄。
蔚爲大觀的雍正《古玩圖》，洋灑繪記宮廷瑰寶，内有諸如本品的宋元葵口小盤，珍存自傳世僅二卷的雍正六年（1728）繪、寄存大英博物館的大維德爵士珍藏一卷，以及雍正七年（1729）繪、維多利亞與艾爾伯特博物館珍藏之另一卷。圖見羅友枝(E.S. Rawski) • J • ## (J. Rawson) #M : « China -The Three Emperors 1662-1795》，倫敦，2005年，頁253（下排右三）（圖一）、頁254（上排右二）。
乾隆皇帝對這類宋元小盤的熱愛，從多幅化身成風雅文士的宫廷畫作中可見一斑。北京故宮博物院藏郎世寧( Giuseppe Castiglione， 1688-1766年）繪《弘曆觀畫圖》軸，見乾隆皇帝悠然端坐，身旁一案古物琳琅，有玉器、青銅器、明代中葉單色釉瓷，以及一件狀如本品的宋元葵口盤，圖見前述著錄，頁282，編號194。
同爲北京故宫博物院所藏三卷佚名《乾隆皇帝是一是二圖》軸（圖二），亦有相類陳設，几案床榻上盡是書籍古玩，當中即有同類小盤。一卷圖見《 The Qianlong Emperor - Treasures fromthe Forbidden City 》 ， 蘇格蘭國立博物館，愛丁堡，2002年，頁112，編號59。
這類宋元開片雅器，自古在日本備受推崇，至近代名震歐美，二十世紀著名美國收藏家史蒂芬（伊斯特凡） •瓊肯三世 ( Stephen ( Istvan ) Junkunc III，約 1904—1978年）即其主人之一。（圖三）瓊肯三世約在1904年生於匈牙利布達佩斯，童年隨父史蒂芬 • 瓊肯二世（1873—1948年）舉家移居美國芝加哥。1918年，瓊肯二世在市內南亞伯丁街創辦通 用機械製造公司( General Machinery & Manufacturing Company ' §#EGMMCO) ,其後遷址北基勒街，現由家族第四代後人執掌，至今仍屹立該址。GMMCO以銷售工具與模具起家，在二次大戰前已是全美棺槨金屬飾件衝壓商巨頭。戰時公司轉營軍工援仗，包括承辦普惠公司 ( Pratt & Whitney）為福特汽車製作航太機械項目。GMMCO以精工取勝，獲普惠公司持續賞識，戰後1950年代受委託為新型噴氣發動機製造專用燃油噴頭。
回顧瓊肯三世的收藏生涯，1950至60年代是高峰期，1930年代則是萌芽期，與中國藝術結緣自一本書。他此後藏書日富，填滿府邸和辦公室，儼然如中國藝術藏書閣。他手不釋卷，潛心研讀，擅用閑暇博覽群書，更對漢語產生濃厚興趣。1940年代，身爲GMMCO經理兼合夥人的瓊肯三世，開始著力蒐購中國藝術品。瓊肯三世的藏品數量驚人，巔峰時高達2000件，涵蓋陶瓷、佛教藝術、玉雕、青銅器，以至繪畫等諸多範疇。
時任紐約大學美術學院教授的艾佛雷 • 薩爾莫尼 (Alfred Salmony，1890—1958年），是蜚聲國際的中國玉器權威。1950年2月，薩爾莫尼觀賞瓊肯三世的高古玉器珍藏，二人惺惺相識。前者有意把部分玉器載入其即將刊印、分錄成上下冊的百科全書式巨著 《 Chinese Jades of AllPeriod 》，可惜夙願末嘗，在海上卒然身故。按書信記錄，薩爾莫尼付託瓊肯三世和英國收藏家德斯蒙•古雷 ( Desmond Gure， 1905-1970年）完成遺作。1963年，上冊《 Chinese Jade Through the Wei Dynasty 》問世，收錄大批瓊肯珍藏。
薩爾莫尼筆下表示，瓊肯三世早在收藏肇始，便對中國陶瓷深感著迷，慎重而藏的精神始終如一。事實上，瓊肯只會經業界翹楚嚴選佳品。1928年，著名日本古董商山中商會在芝加哥開設業務，打開瓊肯對中國藝術的知識大門。1941年珍珠港事件爆發，山中商會遭美國政府清盤。1944年，前商會經理永谷寿三（1905—1994年）自立門戶，創辦永谷會社。三十年來，永谷對瓊肯影響最巨，經他手入藏的中國藝術品恆河沙數。與此同時，瓊肯珍藏的精闢來源也涵蓋二十世紀中葉各路藝壇巨擘。在紐約包括盧芹齋（1880—1957）及其接班人法蘭克 ． 卡羅 ( Frank Caro）、通運公司、華倫•E •寇斯( Warren E. Cox，1895-1977）及愛麗絲 •龐尼 ( AliceBoney，1901-1988年）；在倫敦有史帕斯(Sparks ）、布魯特父子商行(Bluett & Sons）、H.R.N.萊爾頓(H.R.N. Norton）和望特街巴林公司(Barling of Mount Street) 等等。1935年，瓊肯信洽倫敦狄勤森父子商行(D. Dickinson & Sons ），流露早年鍛煉銳眼的決心。他著對方蒐羅康熙、雅正年製單色釉瓷，強調只要「博物館級」的「嚝世絕品」。翌年，他向布魯特父子商行發出同類書函。1936年，瓊肯去信H.R.N.萊爾頓物色藏品，包括「一流的清代單色釉瓷、彩繪瓷」，以及「貫徹華夏美學」的明瓷，諸如「纖巧精細的高足盃、應有盡有的瓶器」，切忌「色濁無光、紋樣粗率的次品」。
瓊肯雅好的陶瓷品類，在1930年代聚焦清代，至1940年代上推至宋明時期。除本哥窯盤外，瓊肯還蓄有兩件百年難遇的汝極品，其一在1941年購自盧芹齋，後由鑒藏家區百齡入藏。瓊肯精益求精，目光如炬，是名副其實的收藏大王。
1950年代初，瓊肯的珍藏規模已極爲可觀，絕大部分存於伊利諾州橡樹園家中的二戰地下防空洞。1952年9月7日，《芝加哥論壇報》比喻洞庫為「地下王國」，盡是「琳琅滿目的數百年中國藝術精華」。記者以奇詭文辭寫道：「瓊肯猶如蜘蛛，蟄伏在縱橫四方的網絡中心。藏寶洞主身懷絕技，具備外交官的機智、跨國間謀的膽識、長跑選手的韌度。蒐羅東方藝術是神秘國度裏的棘手競技，等閒之輩只能瞠乎其後。」作者末免誇張，但確能點出瓊肯的成功之道-一糅合個人品味、鑒賞能力與鴻鵠大志。上述汝窯名器、本哥窯盤足証所言非虛。
瓊肯樂於行善，對藝術機構貢獻良多，長期借出珍貴藏品公開展覽，包括美國芝加哥藝術博物館（1940至60年代）、費城《 Ming Blue-and-WhiteExhibition 》 展覽（1949年）和洛杉磯歷史科學藝術博物館（現洛杉磯縣自然歷史博物館）《Arts of the T’ ang 》展覽（1956年），更把大量珍藏慷慨捐贈美國多家博物館。
此哥窯盤源顯赫，在瓊肯三世入藏之前，為姚昌復（又名姚叔來，1963年卒）所有（圖四），1952年展出於洛杉磯縣立博物館《 Chinese Ceramics from the Prehistoric Period Through Ch' in Lung: A Loan Exhibition from Collections in America and Japan 》 展覽，見同名展覽圖錄，頁69，編號3。姚氏在上世紀活躍於美國的中國藝術圈，姐夫為民國時期政商界風雲人物張靜江（又名張人傑，1877-1950年）。1905年，張氏在巴黎創辦名震一時的通運公司，銷售中國藝術品，又先後在1925、1946年於紐約第五大道、東57街5號開設分店，1950年去世後由姚氏接管業務。
逜類宋元細器自古地位超然，至今仍被奉為圭臬，近半世紀受學者爭相研究。它們器形優雅，色淨質純，呈青、白、灰諸調，裂紋斑駁，宜古宜今。狀若蟹爪的裂紋開片，可媲美矜貴玉璞的天然脈紋，是官、哥名窯的一大特色，歷來評價極高。古人以鱔血形容裂紋色澤，現今學界通稱「金絲鐵線」，比喻色黃如金的幼紋、色褐如鐵的粗紋相互交織，本品即絕佳範例。
宋代官窯黑址可按古籍溯源，「官黑器，末修內司燒者」（《格古要論》）「後郊壇下別立新窯」（《垣齋筆衡》）等云之「修內司」、「郊壇下」兩窯遺址，近年在杭州鳳凰山北老虎洞 、玉皇山南出士。「哥窯」一詞雖錄史冊，但背景末名。有說是浙江處州人章生一、章生二兄弟於龍泉各主一窯燒造，「生一以兄故，其所陶者日哥窯」（《陶說》）。明嘉清四十年（1561年）薛應旂等纂《浙江通誌》也有如此說法，惟資訊有限。已故學者汪慶正為哥窯端本清源，仔細翻查典籍，在（官、哥兩黑若干問題的探索〉中表示「哥窯」一名在宋代文獻未見，待至元代孔齊（又名孔克齊）約在元順帝至正二十五年（約1365年）著成的《至正直記》，方有「哥哥洞黑」或「哥哥窯」之說。明洪武二十一年（1388年）曹昭著 《格古要論》亦記「哥哥黑」。明宣德三年刊（1428年）《宣德鼎彝譜》出現「哥窯」一詞，為現存文獻最古。各書用字雖略有差異，但總算一脈相承，所指窯爐該同，惟地點尚難辦識。
考古發掘方面，迄今出士的官、哥窯瓷器雖然極少，但1970年，南京舊中央門外發現之汪興租墓，為學界提供莫大裨益。碑文記載墓立於洪武四年（1371年），內藏11件片紋花口小盤。見李蔚然：〈南京明汪興祖墓清理簡報〉，《考古》，1972年，卷4，頁31—33。現藏南京博物館的一盤圖見蘇玫瑰: < Guan or Ge Ware? A re-examination of some pieces in the Percival David Foundation) • « Oriental Art » • 1993#5 39期，編號2，頁21，圖版17、18。汪興祖（1338—1371年）是明初開國名將，隨朱元璋征戰有功。其墓葬價值連城，多件出士瓷器被斷為宋或元製。哥窯類被學者引用作元瓷之斷代依據，用之對照宋瓷雖罕，但也不能全盤否定後者的意義。
事實上，哥窯的斷代問題一直衆說紛紜，有些學者認為哥窯出自元代而非南宋，官、哥窯干絲萬縷的歷史淵源長久備受爭論。乾隆皇帝曾焉宮藏片紋瓷器題詩銘文，惟對官、哥窑分類有矛盾直之嫌。乾隆皇帝對官、哥瓷器的熱愛，從前述畫像、宫藏書例中可見端倪。文獻方面，乾隆皇帝之《清高宗御制詩文全集 》更載有相關的御題詩句。帶御題詩的傳世例子，現藏於大維德爵士慕金會及北京故宮博物院，可參考前引蘇玫瑰文，頁19一20。大維德爵士珍藏一例與本品十分相似，其色偏黃，典藏編號69，圖見同文，圖版14、15右下。
（圖五及圖六）
大維德爵士另藏一葵口紋片小盤，底銘 「乾隆乙,末春御題」，即乾隆四十年（1775年）御題，又記「春風堂不觀隨筆，那識哥窯所得名」，同句載於《清高宗御制詩文全集》四集卷26。《春風堂隨筆》由明朝中葉著名文學家、書法家陸深（1477—1544）所撰。典藏編號14，圖見同文左上。（圖七及圖八）大維德爵士珍藏中另有一葵口盤，按造坯與釉色與本品對照，幾乎如出一轍。其底銘「鐵足冰紋火氣蠲，口分六出體規圓，較於瓶罪猶多見，華者脆和樸者堅」，載於《清高宗御制詩文全集 》四集卷89。末記「乾隆丙申夏御題」，即乾隆四十一年（1776年）御題。典藏編號13，圖見同文左下。（圖九及圖十）
臺北故宮博物院藏有數例，其一就形制與釉色而言，皆本品非常相似，載於《故宫藏瓷：哥室》下冊，香港，1962年，編號52。兩者底部相異，該盤為圈足平放燒造，本盤則以支釘承托。院藏官窐例子採支釘燒的可參考《宋官窯特展》圖錄，臺北，1989年，編號118-124；平足燒的見同書，編號125—131。北京故宮博物院所藏同形制、支釘燒的官、哥盤中，最接近本品一例載於《故宮博物院藏文物珍品全集：兩末瓷器》下冊，1996年，頁100，編號91，其色略深。（圖十一）
1992年10月，汪慶正教授在上海博物館舉辦為期三天的哥窯學術座談會，期間展出館藏一件較大的紋片葵口盤，展開他所認爲哥窯實分兩類的理論研討。該盤的紋片佈局與本盤雷同，但僅一色，非本盤之「金絲鐵線」雙色。
該釉偏藍，被定為哥窯。圖見 Shelagh Vainker ( Ge Ware ConferenceReport 〉，《 Oriental Art 》，1993年夏，卷39，2期，頁5，圖1。
明朝年間，末瓷地位無與倫比，帝皇貴族、騷人墨客一概對其趨之若鶩。明人推許「官、哥、汝、鈞、定」為「五大名瓷」，五瓷聲名非同凡響。五窯大美盈累千年，古韻濬哲積厚流光，本哥盤盡得其髓，堪稱模範。
AUCTION 2024 Christie’s NY:
Thursday 21 March at 9.00am (Lots 801–1002) Friday 22 March at 9.00am (Lots 1101–1239)
VIEWING
16 March 17 March 18 March 19 March 20 March
10.00am-5.00pm 10.00am-5.00pm 10.00am-5.00pm 10.00am-5.00pm 10.00am-2.00pm
20 Rockefeller Plaza New York, NY 10020
this sale should be referred to as DOROTHY-22642
lot 912
A SUPERB AND VERY RARE GE FOLIATE DISH
SOUTHERN SONGYUAN DYNASTY 11271368 5q in. (14 cm.) diam., fitted cloth box
Estimate: $1,800,000 - $2,500,000
PROVENANCE:
C. F. Yao (Yao Chang Foo, 18841963) Collection, New York.Stephen Junkunc, III (d. 1978) Collection.Property from an American Private Collection; Christie's New York, 24 March 2004, lot 151.Sen Shu Tey, Tokyo.Linyushanren Collection, Japan
EXHIBITED:
Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Museum, Chinese Ceramics from the Prehistoric Period through Ch'ien Lung, 14 March-27 April 1952.Tokyo, Sen Shu Tey, Special Exhibition ‘Run Through 10 Years’, 2006. Christie's, The Classic Age of Chinese Ceramics: An Exhibition of Song Treasures from the Linyushanren Collection, Hong Kong, 2227 November 2012; New York, 1520 March 2013; London, 1014 May 2013.
LITERATURE:
H. Trubner, Chinese Ceramics from the Prehistoric Period through Ch'ien Lung, Los Angeles, 1952, p. 69, no. 111.Sen Shu Tey, The Collection of Chinese Art - Special Exhibition ‘Run Through 10 Years’, 2006, p. 48, no. 57.
Christie's, The Classic Age of Chinese Ceramics: An Exhibition of Song Treasures from the Linyushanren Collection, Hong Kong, 2012, pp. 188191, no. 80.R. Scott, ‘Chinese Classic Wares from a Japanese Collection: Song Ceramics from the Linyushanren Collection’, Arts of Asia, March-April 2014, pp. 97108, fig. 22.
An Elegant Ge Ware Dish for Appreciation and Study
鑑賞千年：南宋哥窯盤
by Rosemary Scott, Independent scholar
The current would have been highly treasured from the time of its creation, and remains so to the present day. Evidence for the esteem in which such early crackled ware dishes were held during the reigns of the great Qing emperors Yongzheng (172335) and Qianlong (173695) can be found in contemporary court paintings – both informal imperial portraits and detailed depictions of selected treasures from the imperial collection. Small, lobed, Song or Yuan crackled ware dishes, similar to the current example, appear on the famous Yongzheng handscrolls entitled Guwan tu (Pictures of Ancient Playthings) in the Percival David Collection (currently on loan to the British Museum) and the Victoria and Albert Museum, dated 1728 and 1729 respectively. Sections of the scrolls depicting these related dishes are illustrated in E.S. Rawski and J. Rawson (eds.), China – The Three Emperors 16621795, Royal Academy, London, 2005, pp. 253 (bottom row, third from the right) Fig. 1 and 254 (top row second from the right).
The Qianlong Emperor’s admiration for such Song/Yuan crackle-glaze dishes can also be seen from the fact that vessels similar to the current dish appear in several informal portraits of the emperor, where he is depicted as a connoisseur of antiquities. One such portrait is a hanging scroll by Giuseppe Castiglione (16881766 Lang Shining), entitled Hongli looking at a Painting, which is in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing (illustrated in China – The Three Emperors 16621795, op. cit., p. 282, no. 194). The emperor is shown seated beside a table on which a range of precious antiques have been placed – including jades, bronzes, and early 15th century monochrome porcelains, as well as a lobed Song/Yuan crackle-glazed dish, similar to the current vessel. The famous anonymous painting entitled ‘One or Two?’, of which there are three versions in the Palace Museum, Beijing, also depicts one of these dishes displayed for the emperor’s enjoyment. Fig. 2 One of these paintings is illustrated in the catalogue of the exhibition The Qianlong Emperor - Treasures from the Forbidden City, National Museums of Scotland, Edinburgh, 2002, p. 112, no. 59. The Qianlong emperor is shown seated on a day-bed in front of a screen on which is hung a portrait of himself, and surrounded by precious objects from his famous collection of antiques. A small crackle-glazed dish, similar to the current piece, is shown on the table nearest to the emperor.
Song/Yuan crackle-glazed wares of this type have traditionally been revered in Japan, but in more recent centuries appreciation of their subtle elegance spread to Europe and America. One of the 20th century owners of the current dish was the famous, and greatly-respected, American collector Stephen Junkunc III (c. 19041978). Fig. 3 Stephen (István) Junkunc III was born in Budapest, Hungary, in around 1904, but emigrated to the United States when he was a child. His father, Stephen Junkunc II (1873- 1948) brought the family to Chicago, where in 1918 he founded the General Machinery & Manufacturing Company on South Aberdeen Street; later moving it to North Keeler Street, where it is still located today, under the leadership of a fourth generation Junkunc. GMMCO began as a tool and die shop, but became the largest casket hardware stamping company in the US prior to World War II. During the war, Junkunc turned over a significant part of the firm’s production to support the war eort. This included aerospace manufacturing for the Ford Motor Company as a sub- contractor for Pratt & Whitney. The latter were so impressed with the precision of GMMCO, that after the war, in the 1950s, Pratt & Whitney commissioned GMMCO to manufacture a special fuel nozzle seal for their new jet engines.
While the 1950s and 1960s saw the largest number of artworks entering his collection, Stephen Junkunc III seems to have started collecting Chinese art in the 1930s, following his serendipitous introduction to a book on Chinese art. He was to establish a large library of books on the subject, which he housed in his home and in his oce. These he studied with great assiduity, reading voraciously whenever he had free time. He took an additional interest in Chinese language. In the 1940s Junkunc began dedicated acquisition of Chinese art, which he pursued alongside his responsibilities as manager and part-owner of GMMCO. His Chinese collection, which at its height encompassed some 2,000 items, covered a number of areas, including ceramics, Buddhist art, jade carvings, bronzes and paintings.
In relation to jade, Junkunc formed a friendship with Alfred Salmony (18901958) – a professor at the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, who was a leading, internationally-respected, scholar in the field of Chinese jade. Salmony visited Junkunc’s collection of early Chinese jades in February 1950 with a view to including some of them in his forthcoming encyclopaedic two-volume history to be entitled Chinese Jades of All Periods. Sadly, Salmony died at sea before he could complete the project, but letters reveal that he entrusted Junkunc and the British collector Desmond Gure (19051970), who had both supported his research, to complete his publication. The first volume entitled Chinese Jade Through the Wei Dynasty, was published posthumously in 1963, and included a significant number of pieces from Junkunc’s collection.
His letters suggest that Chinese ceramics were one of Junkunc’s first collecting passions, and it is clear that he set a consistently high standard for the pieces he acquired. He only purchased from the most trusted international dealers. It has been noted that Junkunc’s interest in Chinese art followed the establishment in 1928 of the Chicago rooms of the famous Japanese dealers Yamanaka & Co. Ltd. After Yamanaka’s was forcibly dissolved by the US government in 1941 – after the attack on Pearl Harbour – its former manager Hisazo Nagatani (19051994) set up an independent dealership, Nagatani Inc., in 1944. It was Nagatani, who, over three decades, was the most influential of the dealers working with Stephen Junkunc and supplied a substantial number of his Chinese pieces. However, Junkunc bought from many of the most renowned dealers of the mid-20th century. In the US these included C.T. Loo (18801957 Lu Qinzhai) and his former colleague and successor Frank Caro in New York; Ton-Ying & Company, Warren E. Cox (1895- 1977) and Alice Boney (19011988), also in New York, as well as major London dealers such as: John Sparks, Bluett & Sons, H.R.N. Norton, and Barling of Mount Street. A letter written by Junkunc in 1935 to another London firm, W. Dickinson & Sons, provides an indication of his early determination to acquire only the best examples. He requested the dealer to seek out particular monochrome porcelains of the Kangxi and Yongzheng reigns, but specified that he only wanted ‘cabinet pieces’ of ‘very fine quality’. These requirements were repeated to Bluett & Sons the following year. Also in 1936, Junkunc wrote to H.R.N. Norton asking to be sent photographs of any ‘nice pieces in monochromes finely decorated pieces of the Ching dynasty’, while also requesting pictures of Ming pieces ‘in Chinese taste’, such as ‘fine dainty bowls stem cups, vases etc. of almost any description, but not clumsy types with poor color and hurried drawings’.
While his ceramic taste in the 1930s seems to have been primarily focussed on the Qing dynasty, in the 1940s Junkunc took a greater interest in earlier material, including fine ceramics from the Song-Ming period. It is a testament to the exceptional rarity and quality of the early pieces in his collection that, in addition to the current dish, it included two examples of the esteemed Ru ware, including one purchased in 1941 from C.T. Loo, which is now in the famous Au Bak Ling Collection.
By the early 1950s, Junkunc’s collection of Chinese art was substantial. He kept the majority of the items at his home in Oak Park, Illinois, in a World War II underground bomb-shelter. On 7th September 1952 a report in the Chicago Tribune described the bomb-shelter as containing a ‘priceless hoard’ with ‘shelves weighted with priceless pieces of Chinese art, prizes produced thru a span of centuries’. The writer of the article was inspired to describe Junkunc’s collecting in the language of a novel: ‘Junkunc sits spider-like in the center of a web of agents scattered throughout the world. His escapades in procuring some objects have called for the suavity of a diplomat, the daring of an international spy, and the speed of a distance runner. Cloaked in intrigue and secrecy, and spiced by competition, collecting oriental art is no role of a Milquetoast.’ The similes may be a little far-fetched, but Junkunc certainly exhibited remarkable dedication, in addition to taste and discernment, in putting together a collection of ceramics which included such rare and beautiful pieces as the two Ru wares and the current exceptional Ge ware dish.
Stephen Junkunc III was also a generous patron of the arts. In his lifetime he regularly loaned items from his collection to the Art institute of Chicago throughout the 1940s-1960s, to the famous 1949 Philadelphia Ming Blue-and-White Exhibition, and the 1956 Arts of the T’ang exhibition held at the Los Angeles Museum of History, Science and Art. In addition, Junkunc made generous bequests to a number of other US museums.
Prior to entering Junkunc’s collection the current Ge ware dish was in the collection of C.F. Yao Fig. 4, who, in 1952, loaned it to the Los Angeles County Museum exhibition Chinese Ceramics from the Prehistoric Period Through Ch’ien Lung: A Loan Exhibition from Collections in America and Japan (p. 69, no. III). C.F. Yao was also an important figure in the world of Chinese art in America. His full name was Yao Changfu (d. 1963) and he was the brother-in-law of Zhang Renjie (18771950, also known as Zhang Jingjiang), who founded the famous Ton-Ying and Company in Paris in 1905, establishing a branch on New York’s Fifth Avenue in 1925 and at 5 East 57th Street in 1946. After Zhang Renjie’s death in 1950, C.F. Yao took over the running of Ton-Ying in New York.
The current dish belongs to a group of ceramics which has fascinated collectors and scholars for centuries, and which has been the subject of extensive research – especially in the last 50 years. This group encompasses the elegant vessels with deliberately crackled, somewhat opaque, blue-, grey- and cream-toned glazes made in the Song and Yuan periods. These stoneware vessels are known as Guan ware and Ge ware. Both Guan ware and Ge ware are characterized by subtly-coloured glazes which were deliberately crackled to achieve a fine network of lines over the surface of the vessel. One of the reasons that these crackle lines were admired was probably that they were reminiscent of the fissures in jade, the most prized of all natural materials. One feature which many scholars associate with Ge wares is the double crackle, known in Chinese as jinsi tiexian ‘golden thread and iron wire’, characterised by a distinct dark brown/black crackle combined with a finer golden-brown crackle. This feature has been exceptionally well created on the current dish.
Guan wares, made for the Southern Song court have been convincingly identified, and the kilns, which made them are mentioned in early texts. The sites of both of these kilns – Jiaotanxia and Xiuneisi – have been found in the Hangzhou area, with the latter located at Laohudong. However, the kilns making the other crackle-glazed ware, Ge ware, have not yet been conclusively identified, although various theories have been proposed by scholars. Traditionally Ge ware was attributed to one of the Song dynasty kilns run by two brothers from the Zhang family - Zhang Shengyi and Zhang Sheng’er - in Chu prefecture in the Longquan area of Zhejiang, and the name Ge ware was said to derive from the term gege (elder brother). Although this story is even repeated in the Zhejiang tongzhi (Zhejiang Provincial Gazetteer) of 1561, it has little basis in fact, but was retold many times. The late Professor Wang Qingzheng undertook considerable research into the literary evidence for the name Ge ware. He was unable to locate a reference in Song dynasty literature, but noted that the Yuan dynasty scholar Kong Qi in his Candid Records of the Zhizheng Era (c. 1365, Zhizheng zhi ji) mentioned both gege dong yao (‘kiln in the elder brother’s cave’) and gege yao (‘elder brother’s kiln’). The early Ming dynasty author Cao Zhao also used the term gege yao in The Essential Criteria of Antiquities (1388, Gegu yaolun). The first reference to ge yao in surviving literature appears to be in the 1428 publication Manual of Xuande Ritual Vessels (Xuande ding yi pu). It seems likely that these all refer to the same ware or kiln, but that the name became simplified over time, and the location of the kiln site is still unconfirmed.
Relatively few Guan or Ge ware pieces have been excavated from burial sites, but eleven lobed, crackle-glazed dishes were excavated in 1970 from the tomb of Marquis Wang Xingzu, a general who was buried in 4th year of Hongwu [AD 1371], outside the Zhongyang Gate, at Nanjing, (see Li Weiran ‘Nanjing Ming Wang Xingzu mu qingli jianbao’(Brief report of the investigation of the Ming dynasty tomb of Wang Xingzu in Nanjing), Kaogu, 1972, vol. 4, pp. 3133). One of the dishes from the Wang Xingzu tomb (now in the Nanjing Museum) was illustrated by Rosemary Scott in ‘Guan or Ge Ware? A re-examination of some pieces in the Percival David Foundation’, Oriental Art, Summer 1993, vol. XXXIX, No. 2, p. 21, pls. 17 and 18). These dishes were part of a collection of valuable goods interred with Wang Xingzu, who played an important part in the first Ming emperor’s military victory. Other items from the tomb have been identified as being of Song or Yuan date. Although these excavated dishes have been used to indicate a Yuan date for Ge wares, a Song date cannot be ruled out.
Indeed, the dating of Ge ware has been the subject of much debate in recent years, with some scholars suggesting that Ge wares should be dated to the Yuan dynasty, rather than the Southern Song, while the complexities of distinguishing between Guan and Ge wares has also been much discussed. Certainly, to judge from the inscriptions applied by the Qianlong emperor on early crackled wares in the imperial collection, he was inconsistent in his attributions. However, the high regard in which such pieces were held by the Qianlong Emperor, is demonstrated not only in their inclusion in imperial portraits – as discussed above - but by the fact that inscriptions which were applied on his orders to both Ge and Guan wares in the Qing imperial collection, and these were recorded in Complete Collection of Works by the Qing Emperor Gaozong [Qianlong], Qing Gaozong yuzhi shiwen quanji. Several such inscriptions appear on early crackled wares in the collection of Sir Percival David, as well as those in the Chinese palace collections. The Percival David Collection includes both Ge and Guan ware dishes of lobed form, of similar size, and, like the current dish, fired on spurs. These are discussed by Rosemary Scott in ‘Guan or Ge Ware? A re-examination of some pieces in the Percival David Foundation,’ Oriental Art, vol. XXXIX, no. 2, 1993, pp. 1920. One of the David Collection dishes which closely resembles the current dish, although with a more yellowish glaze, is PDF 69 (illustrated op. cit., plates 14 and 15, lower right). Figs. 5 and 6
An inscription on another lobed crackle-glazed dish in the collection of Sir Percival David provides a suggestion of a literary work to which the Qianlong Emperor traced the name Ge ware. The inscription on this dish (PDF 14, illustrated op. cit., upper left) Figs. 7 and 8, is dated to the cyclical yiwei year [AD 1775] and can be found under the title ‘On a Dish of Ge ware’ in Complete Collection of Works by the Qing Emperor Gaozong, vol. 26, section 1V. Part of the inscription reads:
‘Had we not read the essays from the Spring Wind Hall [Chunfengtang suibi by Lu Shen AD 14771544], how could we know whence Ge ware got its name.’
The Percival David collection dish closest in potting and glaze colour to the current piece is PDF 13 (illustrated op. cit. lower left). Figs. 9 and 10 This dish bears a Qianlong inscription dated to the cyclical bingshen year [AD 1776]. The inscription can be found under the title ‘On a Dish of Guan ware’ in Complete Collection of Works by the Qing Emperor Gaozong, vol. 89, section 1V.
‘It has an iron foot, and crackled ice pattern from its high firing. Its rim is six- petalled like a flower, but its body is round. This form is not so rare as vases or cups. Objects of beauty are fragile, but those of simple strength endure.’
The current dish is very similar in shape and colour to a slightly smaller Ge ware dish in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Porcelain of the National Palace Museum - Ko Ware of the Sung Dynasty, Book II, Hong Kong, 1962, no 52. The Taipei dish has, however, been fired on its foot rim, rather than on spurs. A number of Guan ware dishes of this form, which have been fired on spurs, have also been preserved in the National Palace Museum, Taipei. These have been illustrated in the Catalogue of the Special Exhibition of Sung Dynasty Kuan Ware, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1989, nos. 11824. Further examples of similar form, but which have been fired standing on their foot rims, are illustrated in the same volume, nos. 12531. Of the Ge and Guan ware dishes of similar size and shape, and fired on spurs, in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing, the closest to the current dish – although with slightly darker glaze – is that illustrated in the Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, porcelain of the Song dynasty (II), 1996, p. 100, no. 91. Fig. 11
A somewhat larger lobed dish with crackled-glaze from the collection of the Shanghai Museum was exhibited at the three-day conference on Ge ware organized by Professor Wang Qingzheng in Shanghai in October 1992. This formed part of the discussion of his theory that there were in fact two types of Ge ware. This dish has similar crackle lines to those on the current dish, but of a single colour. It has been designated Ge ware, despite the glaze colour being of a bluer tone. (illustrated by Shelagh Vainker, ‘Ge Ware Conference Report’, Oriental Art, Summer 1993, vol. XXXIX, No. 2, p. 5, fig. 1).
In the Ming dynasty, when connoisseurs choose to honour classes of Song dynasty ceramics which had enjoyed the appreciation of the imperial court and members of the Song elite for their refined beauty, they named Guan, Ge, Ru, Jun, and Ding wares as the wu daming ci ‘Five Famous Wares of the Song’. The beautiful little Ge ware dish in the current sale exemplifies all the aesthetic qualities for which the five were justifiably revered.
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