An exceptionally rare Ding Yao tripod cylindrical incense burner, zun

Northern Song/ Jin Dynasty, 12th century

Footnotes

北宋/金（十二世紀） 定窯弦紋三足樽

Provenance: John Sparks Ltd., London, by repute
A distinguished European private collection, and thence by descent

來源：傳購自倫敦古董商John Sparks Ltd.
顯貴歐洲私人收藏，並由後人保存迄今

The European private collection to which this exceptional Ding incense burner belongs, was formed by a highly discerning collector, mostly between the 1930s and the 1960s.

The pieces forming the collection were acquired from some of the foremost dealers of their generation, including in London John Sparks, Bluett's and William Clayton, in Paris L.Wannieck and Pierre Saqué and in New York Frank Caro (as successor to C.T. Loo). In a correspondence between John Sparks and the owner in 1930, the former was informed that a recently acquired piece has arrived safely despite the hard landing of the aeroplane...

The collection included a superb selection of Imperial yellow-glazed dishes ranging from the Kangxi to the Yongzheng period (which will be offered in our forthcoming Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art sale in Hong Kong), and stands as a testament to the connoisseur's eye of the collector.

The collection moved with the owner and her family across three continents, always beautifully displayed around the home to be enjoyed and admired daily.


The shape of the present lot was inspired by archaic bronze containers, lian, which were among the ritual implements aimed to present food and drink offerings to the ancestors during the Han dynasty. This archaistic shape was also produced in the Duyao glaze during the Northern Song period as exemplified in a related Ruyao tripod incense burner from the Qing Court collection, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Porcelain of the Song Dynasty (I), Hong Kong, 1996, p.2, no.1.

The distinctive shape appears to have survived in spite of the demise of the Northern Song dynasty. Examples were made at the Guan kiln, re-established by the exile Court in the suburb of the Southern Song capital Hangzhou. For a Guanyao tripod incense burner, Southern Song dynasty, in the National Palace Museum Collection, Taipei, see Dynastic Renaissance: Art and Culture of the Southern Song, Antiquities, Taipei, 2010, p.98, no.II-5. It is possible that the Ding kilns in Northern China, though fallen under Jurchen rule after AD 1127, would have continued to produce these vessels.

Dingyao tripod incense burners are extremely rare, but can be found in the Qing court collection. Compare with a similar Dingyao tripod incense burner, Song dynasty, of identical form supported on three legs and decorated with moulded ribs, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Porcelain of the Song Dynasty (I), Hong Kong, 1996, p.40, no.34. Three more examples of Dingyao tripod incense burners, Northern Song/Jin dynasty, of various sizes are illustrated in Decorated Porcelains of Dingzhou: White Ding wares from the collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 2014, pp.48-49, nos.II-5-7.

Another Dingyao tripod incense burner, Song dynasty, is illustrated by B.Gyllensvärd in Chinese Ceramics in the Carl Kempe Collection, Stockholm, 1964, p.140, pl.447; later sold at Sotheby's London on 14 May 2008, lot 238.