A superb Junyao purple-splashed 'bubble' bowl, Northern Song - Jin dynasty | 北宋至金　鈞窰月白釉紫斑小盞

5th Anniversary Exhibition. All-Stars of the Okada Collection: Masterworks of Korin, Jakuchu, Hokusai and the Ru Ware Kilns, Okada Museum of Art, Hakone, 2018-19, exh. no. 52 (unillustrated).

Kobayashi Tadashi, ed., Masterpieces of the Okada Museum of Art, vol. 1, Tokyo, 2013, no. 18.

This exceptional Junyao 'bubble' bowl, distinguished by its resplendent glaze, offers an ethereal luminescence that shifts enchantingly with the viewer’s perspective. Celebrated since the Song dynasty for their kaleidoscopic glazes, Jun wares like this one are rare, particularly for achieving the stunning purple-and-blue fusion that characterises this piece—a chromatic phenomenon of serendipitous rarity. The present example, dubbed a 'bubble' bowl in the West, gains its name from the optical illusion of the glaze's refractive qualities, which evoke the iridescent surface tension of a soap bubble floating in air.

The bowl's interior lustre, undiminished even after nine centuries, showcases its exceptional quality, making it one of the finest examples of its kind. Originating from the principal Jun kilns at Juntai in Yuxian county, Henan, these vessels were crafted alongside numerous provincial sites from the late Northern Song through to the Ming dynasty. Jun wares are noted for their robust potting and thick, viscous glazes—a result of the porous body absorbing moisture during firing. The iconic purple-and-blue palette of this bowl is not merely the result of pigment application but of alchemical pyrotechnics in the kiln. The sky-blue ground emerges from microscopic glass particles that refract celestial hues, while copper-based washes yield the dramatic purple splashes through reduction firing. Exceptionally, rare dark turquoise patches appear where copper has re-oxidized, each surrounded by delicate lavender halos—a virtuosic display of ceramic thermodynamics.

The unique glaze patterns of each Jun ware, born from kiln transformations (yaobian), resonated deeply with Song literati, who valued naturalistic aesthetics during times of societal transformation. Devoid of precious materials or elaborate adornment, this wine bowl embodies the Northern Song renaissance through its abstract chromatic symphony, elevating a humble vessel to the status of a philosophical artifact.

While most 'bubble' bowls exhibit sparse purple splashes, the present example astonishes with vibrant interior and exterior colouration. Compare four highly related examples: one sold in our London rooms, 16th December 1980, lot 264, from the collection of Edward T. Chow, and subsequently sold in these rooms, 19th May 1987, lot 209 from the T.Y. Chao collection, and Christie's New York, 16th September 1998, lot 359, from the the Jingguantang collection; the second attributed to the collection of Alfred Schoenlicht, exhibited in China Without Dragons: Rare Pieces from Oriental Ceramic Society Members, London, 2016, no. 72, sold in our London rooms, 8th November 2006, lot 55 and in these rooms, 3rd April 2018, lot 3605; the third sold in our London rooms, 12th June 2003, lot 107 from the Canton collection and again in these rooms, 13th October 2021, lot 3634; and the fourth also from the collection of Edward T. Chow, sold in the same sale in 1980 in our London rooms, lot 265, and sold again in our London rooms, 7th June 2000, lot 93, from the collection of Sakamoto Gorō, and most recently sold in these rooms, 2nd October 2018, lot 3109.

Compare also two related bowls in the Palace Museum, Beijing, one with paler-blue and fewer splashes, illustrated in Selection of Jun Ware: The Palace Museum's Collection and Archaeological Excavation, Beijing, 2013, pl. 36 and a smaller variant, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Porcelain of the Song Dynasty, vol. 1, Hong Kong, 1996, pl. 222. Other sparsely decorated examples reside in the Baur Collection, illustrated in John Ayers, The Baur Collection Geneva: Chinese Ceramics, vol. I, Geneva, 1968-1974, nos A31-32, and in Victoria and Albert Museum, illustrated in Rose Kerr, Song Dynasty Ceramics, London, 2004, pl. 26, and in British Museum, illustrated in Stacey Pierson, Song Ceramics: Objects of Admiration, London, 2003, pl. 20.

展覽

《開館5周年記念展―美のスターたち―光琳．若冲．北斎．汝窯など名品勢ぞろい》， 岡田美術館，箱根，2018-19年，展覽編號52（沒載圖）

出版

小林忠編，《岡田美術館名品撰》，卷1，東京，2013年，編號18

此件鈞窰小盞釉色瑰麗，內外泛呈晶瑩釉光，盈盈在手，攝人心魄。鈞瓷自宋代便以斑斕釉色備受推崇，而如本品般藍紫交融間點綴翠綠斑紋者，實屬空前絕後之奇珍。西方習稱此類器物為「氣泡盌」，蓋因盌內壁釉光折射，形成宛如皂泡自器緣升騰之幻象，本件堪稱其中之典範。本品內壁絢爛釉色映襯下，虹彩浮光愈顯奇幻。此盌歷經千年仍葆奪目光華，無疑位列同類傳世精品之巔。

鈞窰主窰場位於古鈞州（今河南禹縣）鈞台，河南多處窰口（包括寶豐清涼寺汝窰）自北宋末至明代皆有燒造。較之其他宋瓷，鈞器胎骨厚重，形制簡樸，釉層凝潤—胎體吸水特性令釉料更顯豐腴。鈞瓷藍紫交融之色絕非簡單施釉所致，實為窰變形成的光學奇觀。天青底色非顏料所繪，乃釉中玻璃微粒散射天光所致；紫紅斑紋則以銅料點染，與乳濁天青釉交融後經還原焰煆燒。本品珍罕之處在於，內外壁皆飾有銅料二次氧化所呈之靛青斑塊，外環淡紫光暈，宛若神工。

因窰變天成，鈞瓷釉色無一雷同，此般渾然天成之趣深得宋時文士推崇。北宋政治社會變革催生了崇尚簡樸自然的審美思潮，這件可能用作酒盞，雖無華貴材質與繁縟紋飾，卻以抽象得窰變虹彩，盡展自然真趣。

傳世氣泡盌中紫斑稀疏者眾，然鮮見如本品釉色之絢麗絕倫，且內外皆紫。可資比照者有四：其一為仇焱之舊藏，1980年12月16日經倫敦蘇富比釋出，編號264，後為趙從衍遞藏，1987年5月19日於香港蘇富比釋出，編號209，及後再售於紐約佳士得靜觀堂專場，1998年9月16日，編號359；其二傳為阿爾弗雷德·勳利希特舊藏，見倫敦東方陶瓷學會，《龍隠: 東方陶瓷學會會員稀珍藏品展》，倫敦，2016年，編號72，後於倫敦蘇富比2006年11月8日，編號55及香港蘇富比2018年4月3日，編號3605易手；其三為小聽颿樓收藏，2003年6月12日售於倫敦蘇富比，編號107， 後又售於香港蘇富比，2021年10月13日，編號3634；其四亦為仇焱之舊藏，1980年12月16日經倫敦蘇富比釋出，編號265，後經坂本五郎遞藏，2000年6月7日售於倫敦蘇富比，編號93，最後再經香港蘇富比釋出，2018年10月2日，編號3109。

北京故宮藏一例紫斑較少且釉色較淡者，見《鈞瓷雅集：故宮博物院珍藏及出土鈞窰瓷器薈萃》，2013年，圖版36；另見尺寸略小之例，載於《故宮博物院藏文物珍品全集·宋瓷（上）》，1996年，圖版222。紫斑疏朗者尚有日內瓦鮑氏藏二例，見約翰·艾爾斯，《The Baur Collection Geneva: Chinese Ceramics》（鮑氏藏中國陶瓷），卷1，編號A31-32；以及倫敦維多利亞及艾伯特博物館收藏一件，來自尤摩弗帕勒斯舊藏，見柯玫瑰，《Song Dynasty Ceramics》（宋瓷），倫敦，2004年，圖26，及大英博物館藏大維德基金會一例，見畢宗陶，《Song Ceramics: Objects of Admiration》（宋瓷：欽慕之物），倫敦，2003年，圖20。