拍賣筆記 vol.329 蘇富比紐約2026：唐邢窰白釉花口長頸執壺 - Sotheby’s NY 2026, A ‘Xing' White-Glazed Ewer, Tang Dynasty

尺寸高達44.3cm是非常重要的指標，大尺寸的唐代白釉製品是高品級的要素之一。小尺寸（包含袖珍品Miniature Ewer）的花口執壺（注子），實際上可能是唐代流行的唐三彩鷹嘴壺、鳳首壺的簡化版本；大尺寸的注子，或有可能是有鷹嘴蓋，參考東京國立博物館橫河民輔捐贈的白釉鷹嘴壺。

這件大尺寸的花口壺，或許原來配有鷹嘴蓋子、或者其他獸首蓋子。若對比黑石號出土的大尺寸綠釉長頸壺（高度近1米）、河北蔚縣榆澗唐墓的綠釉帶把瓶 （通高74釐米），則這件拍品可能僅僅屬於中尺寸。

齊東方：“黑石號”沈船出水器物雜考.pdf

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A height of 44.3 cm is a highly significant indicator, as large-sized Tang dynasty white-glazed wares represent one of the essential markers of superior quality and high grade. Smaller-sized flower-mouth ewers (zhuzi, or pouring vessels), including miniature examples, may in fact be simplified versions of the popular Tang sancai (three-color) eagle-beak ewers or phoenix-head ewers. Larger-sized zhuzi, by contrast, could originally have been fitted with an eagle-beak cover, as seen in the white-glazed eagle-beak ewer donated by Yokogawa Minosuke (横河民輔) now in the collection of the Tokyo National Museum.

This large flower-mouth ewer may originally have been equipped with an eagle-beak lid, or possibly another form of beast-head lid. However, when compared to the large green-glazed long-necked ewers excavated from the Belitung shipwreck (黑石號)—some of which approach nearly 1 meter in height—or the green-glazed handled vase (通高74 cm) from the Tang tomb at Yujian, Yuxian County, Hebei Province, the present lot might more accurately be classified as medium-sized rather than truly monumental.

唐 邢窰白釉花口長頸執壺

現場拍賣開始：

2026 March 25, 09:30 PM HKT

估價

150,000 - 250,000 USD

柄破損經修補連帶噴釉，包括柄鏈接壺身處、流處、最高處及柄下半部分一處。頸部底端見噴釉，或為窯綫經修補。足沿見兩熱釋光鑽孔。整體見正常表面磨損及少許微細窯燒瑕疵。

本拍品經牛津熱釋光檢測編號P106n79，結果與其斷代相符。

出處

紐約蘇富比2007年9月18日，編號213

本件執壺代表早期陶瓷典範中最重要且最具衝擊力的器型之一。其球形鼓腹漸收為優雅頸部，再擴展成細膩流嘴的造型，似乎最早於隋末發展而成，深受自六世紀晚期起由繁榮的薩珊帝國輸入的金銀器影響。譬如可比較內蒙古居烏德孟唐墓出土的一件銀執壺，收錄於1983年東京「中國內蒙古・北方騎馬民族文物展」圖錄，編號69；以及辛辛那提藝術博物館藏的一件鍍金銀執壺，見Margaret Medley著《金屬器與中國陶瓷》（London, 1972），圖版1a，該書作者追溯了此器型的演變。如Medley所論，唐代執壺最初極為貼近波斯原型，大量採用模製裝飾與動物造型；然而至八世紀末，這種直接模仿已大致轉向更簡潔、優美的形式，此即後世所認定的真正精煉唐風。

雖然波斯設計的影響無可否認，本件執壺卻擁有某種難以言喻的普世性，其優雅造型與大膽的極簡主義令人印象深刻。那由古代匠人於軟泥狀態下以兩道簡單捏塑而成的優美流嘴，賦予此器逾千年後仍充滿生機的活力。同樣地，乍看之下極為低調，但本件執壺那燦爛純白的釉色卻賦予其非凡的存在感。雖然相關器型中較多裝飾繁複的例子常見施三彩（sancai）釉，本件執壺則屬於更稀少的一群，產自河北地區的原初瓷質釉（proto-porcelaineous glazes）。觸感柔軟卻異常純淨明亮，所謂「北方白瓷」標誌著與同時代較華麗設計的鮮明區隔，為宋代宮廷所鍾愛的極簡美學與定窯鋪平道路。

此類華貴設計的存世執壺極為罕見。可比較一件尺寸相近（41.2 cm）、設計極為類似的例子，現藏出光美術館，刊於2012年東京《東洋的白・衣——純粹的世界》圖錄，圖版16（圖1）；以及中國地方機構收藏的兩件密切相關執壺，皆出土自河北遺址，見2002年石家莊《定瓷藝術》：一件形制相近但缺柄者，1974年曲陽縣定窯遺址出土，圖版63；另一件帶短圈足者，1978年臨城縣中羊泉村邢窯出土，圖版62。另可比較另一件帶圈足狀足的密切相關「邢窯」執壺，曾兩度於倫敦佳士得拍賣，最近一次為紐約佳士得2014年3月21日，拍品2075；兩件近期河北發掘出土的微型例，見2012年北京藝術博物館《中國定窯》圖錄，編號37與38；以及胡惠春舊藏另一微型例，紐約佳士得2022年3月25日，拍品1026。

A ‘Xing' white-glazed ewer, Tang dynasty

THE POETRY OF GLAZE - EARLY CERAMICS FROM AN IMPORTANT AMERICAN PRIVATE COLLECTION

Live auction begins on:

March 25, 09:30 PM HKT

Estimate

150,000 - 250,000 USD

Description

Height 17½ in., 44.3 cm

Condition Report

The handle broken and restored at four sections with associated overspray, including the sections connecting the body and spout respectively as well as to the top and to the lower half of the handle. There is a restored crack with overspray encircling half of the neck at its base, possibly original. The base with two TL test drill holes. Overall with age-consistent surface wear and minor firing imperfections.

Provenance

Sotheby's New York, 18th September 2007, lot 213.

Catalogue Note

The present ewer represents one of the most important and striking forms in the canon of early ceramics. Its bulbous form narrowing to a graceful neck which splays into a delicate spout, the present ewer form appears to have first developed in the late Sui dynasty in conversation with gold and silver wares imported from the thriving Sasanian Empire from the late sixth century. Compare, for example, a silver ewer uncovered from a Tang tomb in Ju Ud Meng, Inner Mongolia, included in the exhibition Chugoku Uchi Moko, hoppo kiba minzoku bunbutsu ten [Exhibition of cultural relics of the northern nomads], Tokyo, 1983, cat. no. 69; and a parcel-gilt silver ewer in the Cincinnati Art Museum included in Margaret Medley, Metalwork and Chinese Ceramics, London, 1972, pl. 1a, in which the author traces the development of the present form. As Medley notes, Tang dynasty ewers initially conformed closely to their Persian prototypes with liberal use of molded decoration and zoomorphic features. However, by the end of the eighth century, this direct imitation appears to have largely given way to simpler, more graceful forms, typical of what may now be considered the true refined Tang style.

While the influence of Persian design is undeniable, the present ewer also possesses an ineffable universality in its graceful form and bold minimalism. Its elegant spout, rendered with two simple pinches in the once soft clay by an ancient craftsman, lends the piece a sense of vitality still striking more than a millennium later. Similarly, while understated on first glance, the brilliant white glaze of the present ewer lends it an extraordinary presence. Although more liberally decorated examples of related forms are more commonly found glazed in the sancai (‘three color’) palette, the present ewer belongs to a far more elusive group produced in the proto-porcelaineous glazes of Hebei province. Soft to the touch yet extraordinarily pure and bright in color, the so-called ‘Northern White Wares’ mark a stark departure from the more florid designs of their contemporaries, paving the way for the minimalist and considered aesthetics of the ascendant Song court and its beloved Ding kilns.

Surviving ewers of this regal design are exceedingly rare. Compare a closely related ewer of similar size (41.2 cm) and design preserved in the Idemitsu Museum of Arts, illustrated in Toyo no shiroi ya kimono—jun’naru Sekai [White ceramics of the east: the genuine pure world], Tokyo, 2012, pl. 16 (Fig. 1); and two closely related ewers preserved in regional institutions in China, uncovered from Hebei province sites and illustrated in Dingci yishu [The art of Ding porcelain], Shijiazhuang, 2002: one of closely related form now lacking its handle, excavated from a Ding kiln site in Quyang county in 1974, pl. 63; and another with a short pedestal foot, uncovered in 1978 from the Xing kilns of Zhongyangquan village, Lincheng county, pl. 62. Also compare another closely related ‘Xing’ ewer with a pedestal-shaped foot, sold twice in our London rooms and more recently at Christie’s New York, 21st March 2014, lot 2075; two related miniature examples uncovered in recent excavations in Hebei, illustrated in Zhongguo Dingyao / Ding Kiln of China, Beijing Art Museum, Beijing, 2012, cat. nos 37 and 38; and another miniature example from the collection of J.M. Hu, sold at Christie’s New York, 25th March 2022, lot 1026.

The dating of this lot is consistent with the results of Oxford Authentication Ltd. thermoluminescence test no. P106n79.