68 - An Extremely Rare Large Longquan Celadon Carved and Inscribed Vase, early Ming dynastyThe vase is covered overall in a good plum-green celadon glaze and has a wide, trumpet-shaped mouth. A band of cloud-collar motifs encircle the shoulder, while the neck and main body are carved with a scrolling peony design, above a band of lappets encircling the lower body.

An Extremely Rare Large Longquan Celadon Carved and Inscribed Vase, early Ming dynastyThe vase is covered overall in a good plum-green celadon glaze and has a wide, trumpet-shaped mouth. A band of cloud-collar motifs encircle the shoulder, while the neck and main body are carved with a scrolling peony design, above a band of lappets encircling the lower body. While tian (sky/heaven) marked ceramics are most famously associated with Chenghua period "Tian" jars—wares explicitly commissioned under imperial decree—such inscriptions were by no means Chenghua innovations, appearing as early as the Hongwu reign. Notably, two white-glazed bowl fragments bearing a single tian character written in brown pigment (rather than ink) at the base were excavated from the Ming Imperial Mausoleum in Fengyang, Anhui province—the burial site of the parents of Ming founder Zhu Yuanzhang. These findings strongly demonstrate that Ming ceramics with tian inscriptions bear an inseparable relationship with the royal court and the Emperor himself. Concurrently, these physical discoveries challenge the long-held academic view linking tian marks directly to the sequence of the Qianziwen (Thousand Character Classic), as no Ming ceramics bearing corresponding marks such as di (earth), xuan (dark), or huang (yellow) have ever been discovered. Longquan kilns originated in the late Tang dynasty and reached their peak period during the Yuan and Ming dynasties. Longquan celadon is celebrated for its varied forms, refined decoration and lustrous, jade-like green glaze, qualities that embody the traditional Chinese aesthetic appreciation of understated elegance, purity and the soft translucency of jade. According to the Da Ming Huidian (Collected Statutes of the Ming Dynasty), in the twenty-sixth year of the Hongwu reign (1393), Longquan kilns were elevated to the status of official kilns supplying tribute to the imperial court. This development is traditionally associated with a marked advancement in the quality of their wares. Large vases with trumpet-shaped mouths and generously rounded bodies were characteristic products of the period. In the late Ming treatise Zunsheng Bajian (Eight Discourses on the Art of Living), large Longquan vases were praised as being “unrivalled by those of other kilns”, a testament to their considerable reputation at the time. The incised tian character on the present vase thus provides exceptional archaeological and historical context for the dating and status of early Ming Longquan production, serving as a critical clue to its imperial patronage. Comparable examples include a Longquan celadon vase dated to the 5th year of the Jingtai period in the Percival David Collection (illustrated as no. 108A and B in G. St. G. M. Gompertz, Chinese Celadon Wares, London, 1980), another in the British Museum (accession no. 1984,0202.71), a Yuan-dynasty vase in the National Museum of China, and a lotus-decorated vase in the Guangdong Museum. Related examples have also appeared at international auction, including a large Longquan vase with an inscribed character on the inner rim at Sotheby’s (18 September 2024, Lot 1) and a later example sold at Christie’s (22 March 2019, Lot 1623). H:60cm