An extremely rare Guan handled cup,Southern Song dynasty南宋 官窰單把盃exquisitely potted with gently rounded sides supported on a short foot ring, set with a ruyi-shaped flange above a loop handle, applied overall save for the mouth rim and footring with an unctuous celadon glaze suffused with a matrix of golden-beige cracklesw. 10.5 cm来源: Acquired in Hong Kong, 1997.1997年購於香港拍品专文: ForewordNicolas ChowChairman AsiaWorldwide Head and Chairman of Chinese Works of ArtThe Yin Xue Tang collection of Chinese art was assembled over the last twenty years away from the limelight and represents the pinnacle of classical aesthetics in Chinese art. The collection is the work of an aesthete whose astute eye embraces Chinese art in all its many guises, whether ancient Buddhist sculpture, understated Song ceramics, exquisite Imperial porcelain, lacquer from all periods or historical works of art. An extraordinary sensibility for form, transcending time, medium or purpose, permeates the group and seamlessly flows from the generous, deep arched groove of an early 15th century guri lacquer, down the weathered, cracked cheek of a 13th century bodhisattva, to the elegant contraction of the body of a 12th century stoneware vase, to the drama and chaos of an ancient lingbi rock. Every object unlocks aesthetic possibilities and inspires fascination over the life and mind of the artist who produced it and the worshipper, aesthete or emperor who caressed it. The piece-de-resistance in the first part of the collection that we are offering this season is the extraordinary set of thumbrings so intimately intertwined with Emperor Qianlong’s life, passion for his Manchu heritage and enduring quest for political legitimacy, and offers a unique perspective into the mind of one of the most powerful men to have ever walked the earth.______________________________Guan ware, the fabled ‘official ware’ specially created for the imperial court of the Southern Song in Hangzhou, is characterised by refined simplicity. The exquisite tone of this handled wine cup was achieved through the gradual application of multiple layers of glaze and presumably successive firings, the distinct crackle likely created by a well-controlled cooling process following the last firing. This gives the whole piece a gem-like appearance, as if it had been carved out of a single fine jade-like stone. The dark blackish-brown body visible on the foot adds depth to the glaze and lends gravitas to the object as a whole. Celadon-glazed handled wine cups of this elegant form are extremely rare. An excavated example from a Southern Song dynasty tomb at Huangfenshan, Zhejiang, now in Huzhou Museum, was originally attributed to the guan kilns. Scholars nowadays generally agree that it should be reclassified as Longquan celadon made to resemble the imperial guan ware; see Zhu Boqian, Celadons from Longquan Kilns, Taipei, 1998, pl. 142. Another Longquan example of similar size is preserved in the Freer Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., accession no. F1952.8.Comparable handled cups were also produced in other contemporary kilns. Compare a slightly larger Song to Jin dynasty Dingyao example in the Palace Museum, Taipei, exhibited in China at the Inception of the Second Millennium: Art and Culture of the Sung Dynasty, 960-1279, Taipei, 2000, cat. No. IV-40; and an even larger Junyao sky-blue handled cup attributed to Northern Song to Jin dynasty in the Palace Museum, Beijing, published in Selection of Jun Ware of Palace Museum’s Collection and Archaeological Excavation, Beijing, 2013, no. 32.Gracefully modelled with a loop handle on one side, the present cup’s form is inspired by earlier metalware. A Tang dynasty gilt-silver cup with a single loop handle beneath a lobed flange, but of octofoil form and raised on a splayed foot, was unearthed at Hejia village, Xi’an, Shaanxi, and exhibited in HuawudaTangchun. Hejiacun yibao jingcui / Selected Treasures from Hejiacun Tang Hoard, Shaanxi History Museum, Xi’an and School of Archaeology and Museology at Peking University, 2003, cat. no. 3. An early Liao dynasty handled cup of similar proportions was excavated from Zhasitai, Inner Mongolia and included in Zhang Jingming, Zhongguo beifang caoyuan gudai jinyin qi [Ancient gold and silver ware from the grasslands of Northern China], Beijing, 2005, pl. 108. See also a 12th century gilt silver handled cup in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, accession no. 2002.207.前言仇國仕亞洲區主席 | 中國藝術品部國際主管兼主席 胤雪堂藏，韜光養晦二十載，集萃華夏藝珍，自蘊典雅尚風。堂主品味細膩，慧眼善鑑，從古典的佛教造像、內歛的宋代雅瓷、瑰麗的御窰菁華，以至各朝雕漆及歷史重器，廣納百川。所惜所珍，滲透著一種對形姿的敏感，超越時間、材質與功用，源從十五世紀初剔犀的深溝，留連在十三世紀菩薩臉頰的舊裂，滑過十二世紀瓷瓶那道優雅的弧線，湧入古代靈璧石中的激昂與渾沌。一器一物，解放美學的每個可能，誘發觀者對藝匠身心的好奇，遙想往昔傾慕人、鑑賞家、掌權者摸撫它們時的思絮點滴。今季呈獻專場系列的第一章，首推一組七件御製扳指，與乾隆皇帝的生活密不可分，敍述他對滿洲傳統的摯誠熱忱、對政權統治的不竭追求，以獨特的視角一窺這位歷史上叱咜風雲、權傾天下者的心靈面貎。______________________________南宋官窰，位於今杭州，專燒宮廷用器，精巧素樸，韻致清秀，歷代傳頌。此件單把盃釉色溫潤似玉，或經疊施釉，逐層罩塗、數度窰燒方成，開片疏朗，屬末次窰燒時精準控制冷卻溫度而來，整體自然柔潤，彷彿瓊玉琢成。足底黑褐胎骨若隱還現，更顯層次，形添沉穩。青瓷單把盃，珍稀少見，參考浙江皇墳山南宋墓葬出土一例，現藏湖州博物館，原斷為官窰瓷，現今學者普遍認為應屬龍泉仿官窰，見朱伯謙，《龍泉窰青瓷》，台北，1998年，圖版142。華盛頓特區佛利爾美術館藏一件龍泉窰作例，尺寸近於本品，藏品編號F1952.8。比較當朝其他瓷窰燒造的單把盃，如台北故宮博物院藏一件定窰，尺寸略大，造於宋至金代，展出於《千禧年宋代文物大展》，台北，2000年，編號 IV-40。北京故宮博物院藏一鈞窰天青釉單把盃，尺寸更大，斷為北宋至金代，出版於《鈞瓷雅集：故宮博物院珍藏及出土鈞窰瓷器薈萃》，北京，2013年，編號32。器形巧置單環把手於一側，可溯至早期金屬器雛本，陝西西安何家村出土一件唐代銀鎏金單把盃，盃身八瓣形，圈足外撇，展出於《花舞大唐春：何家村遺寶精粹》，陝西歷史博物館，2003年，編號3。內蒙古扎斯台出土一件遼代早期單把盃，造形比例類同本品，錄於張景明，《中國北方草原古代金銀器》，北京，2005年，圖版108。並比較紐約大都會藝術博物館藏十二世紀銀鎏金單把盃，藏品編號2002.207。