A numbered 'Jun’ narcissus bowl, Early Ming dynasty

Collection of Owen F. Roberts.

Collection of Samuel H. Minkenhof (1879-1956), and thence by descent.

The present ‘Jun’ narcissus bowl is representative of one of the most significant and intriguing groups of ceramics made for the imperial court of China. Jun ware, which derives its appeal from the thick and lustrous opaque glaze in varied shades of blue and purple, was produced in Junzhou Prefecture (today’s Yuzhou or Yuxian), Henan province, where ceramic manufacture flourished from the Song (960-1279) through the Ming dynasty (1368-1644).

Among the most distinctive of these wares is the so-called ‘Numbered Jun’ group, comprising flower pots, zun-shaped vases and narcissus bowls, each inscribed on the base with a numeral from one to ten, denoting their relative size and corresponding stands according to the Nanyao biji (‘Notes of the Nanyao’), composed during the Qianlong reign. The present example, incised with the character shi (‘ten’), represents the smallest size in this rare series.

The dating of numbered Jun wares has long been debated. Traditionally attributed to the Northern Song dynasty, although scholars nowadays are more inclined to ascribe them to the early Ming dynasty. Thermoluminescence testing, together with archaeological finds and stylistic parallels with early Ming celadon-glazed flower vessels, have firmly placed this group within the early Ming dynasty. Their absence in pre-Ming texts and depictions further supports this revised dating.

‘Jun’ narcissus bowls of this group are generally classified into three main forms, traditionally described as ‘brush washers’, although their function may equally have been as stands for flowerpots. The first is distinguished by a circular rim with raised drum-nail bosses, as seen on the ‘number four’ example from originally in the Reach Family Collection, sold in these rooms, 11th November 2015, lot 81. The second is formed with six evenly rounded lobes, such as the bowl sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 3rd June 2015, lot 3121. The third type, to which the present bowl belongs, is defined by six bracket lobes set around a flattened rim.

Closely related bowls inscribed with different numerals are preserved in major collections worldwide. Compare three examples described as brush washers preserved in the Qing court collection, published in Porcelain of the Song Dynasty (I), The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 1996, cat. nos. 29-31; and further examples in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Chun Ware, A Panorama of Ceramics in the Collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1999, nos. 37-39. Other important pieces include two bowls from the Grandidier Collection, preserved in the Musée Guimet, Paris (acc. nos G1651 and G2722); as well as a bowl from the Sir Percival David Collection, now in the British Museum, London, published in Illustrated Catalogue of Ru, Guan, Jun, Guangdong and Yixing Wares in the Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, London, 1999, cat. no. 37. Compare a ‘numbered 9’ narcissus bowl from the Edward T. Chow Collection, sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 30th April 1996, lot 305; another from the Linyushanren Collection, sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 2nd December 2015, lot 2812 ; and a further example sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 8th April 2013, lot 3045.