Goryeo Dynasty, 12th-13th c. AD, Korea
Height: 23.3 cm x Width: 30.5 cm
In a wood and glass viewing case.
A thin stoneware rectangular tile with white slip, iron oxide black, and copper red details. There are three rectangular decorative borders. The outermost is thin, with scrolling leaves in white slip decoration, surrounding a thicker border of scrolling vines with leaves in black and flowers in white slip randomly tinged with copper red. Another thin border of dots and circles encases the central decorative panel with a arabesque cartouche floating in a sky of clouds and cranes. The interior of the cartouche is decorated with white slip flowers, also tinged with copper red, surrounded by iron oxide black stems and leaves. The entire front is covered with pale minty green, finely crackled celadon glaze of ideal color. The back of the tile is unglazed and fired to a russet color.
The piece has 5 long cracks, and two very small patches of glaze loss, all repaired. Koryo Dynasty inlaid celadon tiles are exceedingly rare outside of Korea. They are almost exclusively found in Buddhist temple excavations, indicating that their use was reserved for this purpose. They are usually found cracked due to their extreme thinness.
There is a piece of similar design in the collection of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, acquired in 1933, and published in a 1914 Japan Society catalog. Another is in the Cleveland Museum of Art since 1918. The Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka has two tiles, including a smaller example published in their 1992 “An Introduction to Koryo Celadon”, pl.80. A fourth example from the Korean National Museum is published in “Sekai Touji Zenshu”, Shogakukan Tokyo, 1978 Vol. 18, pl. 147. Most recently, an example from the same group was accessioned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and is nearly identical, except for a central cartouche design of birds in trees.
Provenance:
From a private Japanese collection with Bunkacho export certificate.
Small Yaozhou Bowl with Carved Overlapping Petal design
Song Dynasty, 960-1279 AD, China
Diameter: 11.5 cm
A small deep stoneware bowl with slightly curved sides, small foot and slightly flared rim. The interior is molded with tightly packed spiraling petals around the cavetto, and a central flower in the interior bottom. The exterior is decorated with knife-cut line radiating from the foot.The entire piece is covered with a fine olive green glaze which pools at the foot, and reveals a gray clay body fired to shades of brown.
Provenance:
Eskenazi Ltd., 1973
Mary and Cheney Cowles Collection
A stoneware pouring vessel with steep-walled bowl form and sharp shoulders surmounted by a shallow dome top, which has been decorated with a band of lightly incised scrolling floral depictions. The mouth-rim is of short, straight form, which bevels inward at the edge. A long, elegantly formed spout emanates from the upper body which is finished with a tear-shaped rim reminiscent of metalwork spouts originating in Persia. A thick double-strap handle curls up from the body and attaches to the shoulder and is surmounted with a small loop at its apex. The entire piece is covered with a crackled glaze of ideal minty blue-green color typical of celadons of the period.
Three small glaze crawls on the lower body and one minute rim chip repair. The spout has a crack in the center where it was reattached (all original).
A piece of identical form excavated at the Sanbo Shiwa Ancient Tomb and now in the Korean National Museum, appears in Sekai Touji Zenshu, Vol. 18, pg. 138. Another example (with lid) is published in “An Introduction to Koryo Celadon”, Osaka Museum of Oriental Ceramics,1992. pg. 173. pl. 147. A piece of similar form, but with inlaid decoration is illustrated in the May 1969 Hobart Collection catalogs at Park Bernet Galleries, pl. 29.
From a private Japanese Collection and with Bukacho export permit.
Goryeo Celadon Yuhunping Vase with Floral Slip Decoration
Goryeo Dynasty – 12th-13th c., Korea
Height: 33cm
A stoneware pear-shaped bottle vase with elongated neck and flared mouth-rim. The exterior is decorated with four vertical panels, separated by deeply incised bands of three lines each. Each panel has finely impressed garlands of flowers accentuated with white slip for the petals and black for the vines. The exterior is covered with a finely crackled celadon glaze of ideal pale blue-green color, which continues over the foot-rim and is wiped around the underfoot. The foot is chipped in places, revealing a dark gray clay body that has fired to a light brown color where the glaze has been wiped away. There are small glaze crawls on the neck, a small kiln adhesion, and a hairline body crack on the body that has an old glue repair.
A piece of similar decoration and form from the collection of the Musee Guimet is published in “Oriental Ceramics; The World’s Great Collections” Kodansha, Tokyo 1981. Vol. 7. pl. 98
Momoyama – Early Edo Period, late 16th – early 17th c., Japan
Length: 22.5cm x Depth: 19.7cm x Height: 8.5cm
A shallow rectangular stoneware bowl with parenthesis-formed indents centered on the long sides. The walls are stepped in creating a shelf just above the recessed flat bottom. The Northeast and Southwest corners of the bowl are dipped in a mottled deep, dark grassy green glaze with feint bluish tinges, that pools into drips. The remaining interior section has a slip base, and runs in an opposing diagonal from corner to corner. It is buff color with underglaze iron-oxide-brown scrolling tendril decoration with scattered spirals, forming small clusters along the vines. The corners have brown double lines just below the rim.
The sections of the exterior walls not dipped in green glaze are decorated with stylized pine sprigs in iron oxide brown. The bottom is flattened and largely unglazed, but has some areas of slip and dark grean beads of glaze overflowing from the sides. The unglazed surface shows a brown stoneware body, and has four loop feet near the corners. A similarly indented form, but with a handle, is published in “Nippon Toji Zenshu” Chuo Koron, Tokyo 1976. Vol. 16, pl. 2. Another from the John D. Rockefellar Collection is published in “Turning Point – Oribe and the Arts of 16th century Japan” Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2003. No. 69.
Condition:
Excellent condition. There is one small, old rim chip, now blackened with age, and other small firing flaws.
Provenance:
Mizutani Shukodo (Shoichiro Mizutani) Kyoto, until 2010
Private collection, New York
Literature:
“Leighton R. Longhi: Forty-Five Years in Asian Art “, pg. 347, # 363
A Longquan “Yen-Yen” Celadon Vase with Applied Scrolling Floral Decoration
Yuan Dynasty, 1271-1368 AD, China
Height: 25 cm
A “Yen Yen” or “Phoenix Tail” baluster form stoneware vase covered overall with an opaque bluish green Longquan celadon glaze. The piece sits on an unglazed foot rim of inverted beveled form.
The flared bottom section of the vase is decorated with overlapping elongated lotus petals. The center bulbous section has an applied decoration of scrolling peonies with leaves. The tall, flared neck is ringed with horizontal ridges, up to its flared trumpet mouth.
These pieces were used as flower vases for alters in temples and large residential settings. They were produced for both domestic and export markets.
A slightly larger piece of similar form and applied floral decoration appears in He Li’s “Chinese Ceramics, a New Comprehensive Survey from the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco”. Rizzoli, 1996. pl.362. Another example from the Yale University Art Gallery is illustrated in “Celadon on the Seas”, Yale University Press, 2024. Fig. 1.20.
Provenance:
From a Japanese Collection with double box and tea silks.
A stoneware plate with beveled mouth-rim. The interior is decorated with a carved lotus flower over lotus leaf and stem, all confined to a central circle in the center of the flattened interior. The exterior has a slightly rounded profile, which tapers to a countersunk foot-well. The pale, sweet green “moon white” covers the overall exterior, and ends in a circle about 1.5cm above the foot-well, revealing a pale gray clay body fired to a pale russet color.
Excellent condition.
A similar piece is illustrated in “Marvels of Celadon: The Shang Shan Tang Collection of Yaozhou Wares” OM Publishing / Art Institute of Chicago, 2019. No. 36, pg. 172-173.
A small apple-form water pot or brush washer sitting on a narrow foot rim and counter sunk under-foot, bearing an old Hartman sticker. The piece is covered with an opaque “Tea Dust” mossy green glaze, with the exception of the bottom of the foot rim, revealing a pale stoneware body fired to a buff color.
Provenance:
Hartman Auction Studios New York, Mid 1970’s
Priavate California Collection
A stoneware ewer of high-shouldered form with flared mouth-rim. There are two bands of incised concentric lines one just below the neck, and the other at the apex of the shoulder, just below the out-flaring spout (with chipped edge). The molded strap-handle arches up from the shoulder and connects to the neck. The entire piece has streaming green ash glaze over a gray stoneware body fired to a buff color.
This piece is a kiln waster, as the backside has a gaping hole that occurred during the firing process (with its edges covered in ash glaze). One large chip has been restuck, and there is also an unintentional adhesion just under the handle. With copper insert for ikebana.
A similar piece, but with impressed floral decoration, is published in Sekai Touji Zenshu, Shogakukan, Tokyo, 1977. Vol. 3, no. 159.
A stoneware plate with molded interior band of dense foliage surrounding a center with peonies. Covered with a dark green, finely crackled glaze. The underside is plain with the exception of a single line incised about 1 cm below the rim. The straight foot is partially unglazed, revealing a gray clay body fired to a buff color. There is a circle of glaze centered in the underfoot that has fired to a russet color. Although similar to Yaozhou wares, this piece is likely from another Shanxi kiln.
See a deeper bowl with similar pattern published in “Song through 21st Century Eyes, Yaozhou and Qingbai Ceramics” by Rose Kerr. Meijering Art Books, Netherlands, 2009. Fig. 3-50. Another is published in “Masterpieces of Yaozhou Ware”, Osaka Museum of Oriental Ceramics, 1997. pl. 91. Provenance: Brow Collection, USA
A finely potted stoneware bowl with domed lid with crenelated edge surmounted by a two-tiered knob. The bowl has a narrow base that swells to a wide shoulder and inverted mouth rim. The top of the lid and the bottom half of the bowl are decorated with incised petals. Both interior of the bowl and overall exterior are covered in a finely crackled olive green glaze, which ends at the shallow foot rim, exposing a pale buff colored clay body. The underside of the lid is unglazed except for a wiped glaze under the domed section.
There is one hairline crack to the mouth rim and chips to the foot.
A very similar piece is published in “Vietnamese Ceramics; a Separate Tradition” by John Stevenson and John Guy, Avery Press, 1997. pl. 112. Another can be seen in “The Elephant and the Lotus “Vietnamese Ceramics in the Museum of Fine Arts” by Philippe Truong, Boston, Boston MFA, 2001. no. 45.
A small foliate-form plate with impressed and inlaid floral pattern in black and white detailing . The cavetto is formed of fluted petals, each of which is decorated with a floral sprig. The flattened center has a larger floral depiction encased in double concentric circles. The entire piece is covered in a translucent minty blue-green glaze of ideal color. The flattened foot has three white spur marks.
In an inscribed wooden box, and with Bunkacho export permit.
Provenance:
From a private Japanese collection.
(Center)
Small Goryeo Celadon Round Censer with Bamboo Design Relief
Goryeo Dynasty, 11th-12th c. AD, Korea
Height: 4 cm Diameter: 6.2 cm
A small stoneware jarlet with a surface design of joined strips of split bamboo in relief. The piece is covered with an ideally colored blue/green translucent celadon glaze, including the underfoot, which has three white spur marks. Although the original use was as a medicine or cosmetics jar, and likely had a ceramic lid, it was repurposed in late 19th or early 20th century Japan as a censer with the addition of a reticulated gilt bronze chrysanthemum form lid.
With inscribed wooden box and Bunkacho export permit.
Provenance:
Private Japanese Collection
(Right)
Small Goryeo Celadon Cup with Keyfret Pattern
Goryeo Dynasty, 11th 12th c., AD Korea
Height: 6 cm Diameter: 8 cm
A finely potted cup which swells up from a narrow base to high shoulders and slightly inverted mouth rim. There is a delicately incised band of keyfret below the mouth. The piece is covered in a sweet blue-green translucent celadon glaze over all, including the shallow underfoot and foot rim, which has three white spur marks.
These cups were originally designed to fit in stands. A nearly identical example with its original stand can be found in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, accession number: 40.480a-b
With an inscribed wooden box and Bunkacho export permit.
Green Glazed Ceramics from China, Japan, Korea and Vietnam
March 13 – 21, 2025
Asia Week Hours: By appointment from 11am-6pm daily
We are delighted to present an extraordinary exhibition of green glazed ceramics from China, Japan, Korea and Vietnam during Asia Week New York this March. Green Glazed Wares from China, Korea, Japan and Vietnam illustrates the evolution of celadons and other green glazes from their nexus in China to their adaption in other parts of Asia over 1400 years, and offers viewers a rare and valuable mini-course in these fields.
Nearly half of the objects are exquisite examples of Goryeo Dynasty (11th – 13th c.) Korean celadons, offering a rare opportunity to learn about this underappreciated field. The star of this group is a large tile from the 12th – 13th century with inlaid black and white scrolling floral and flying crane decoration, all under an ideally realized sweet blueish green celadon glaze. It comes from a Japanese collection, with only five other known examples of this type outside of Korea. Other examples from Korea include large pear-shaped vases, bowls and plates with varied decorative techniques and glaze tones.
Chinese pieces offer the greatest range of age, from the 5th century through the 18th century, most from old American and Japanese collections. The glaze types range from early Yue-ware examples to an 18th century “tea dust” glazed scholar’s object, with examples from several Northern and Southern Chinese kilns. A highlight of this group is a small “Yen-Yen”, otherwise known as “Phoenix Tail” shaped vase from the Yuan Dynasty, with applied decoration of scrolling flowers above a deeply carved band of elongated lotus petals, all beneath a ridged trumpet neck. Used as devotional flower vases, these pieces were often exported to Japan and Southeast Asia in the 14th century. This example is presented with double boxes and tea silks.
There are three examples of Vietnamese celadons, all from the 14th and 15th centuries, both from important American collections.
Another star of the show is a large Japanese “Ao-Oribe” indented bowl from the late 16th – early 17th century. The corners are dipped in an dark grassy green glaze, framing a central diagonal field of brown playful scrolling tendril decoration. The other Japanese entry is a 13th – 14th century Ko-Seto ewer with streaming translucent ash glaze.
We look forward to welcoming you to the gallery soon!
Until then, to view these pieces online, click here.
About the Gallery
Zetterquist Galleries was founded in 1992 by Eric J. Zetterquist to present the finest of Asian ceramics throughout the ages. Our clients include major museums and the most discerning collectors of Asian ceramics from around the world.
While most Asian antiquities galleries choose one country and show several different media from that country, Zetterquist chose to show one medium, ceramics, but cover all of East Asia. The flow of materials with stylistic and technical influences around the region over the past 2,000 years tells a fascinating story that gets more exciting with time.
