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  • NEW WORLD RECORD FOR CHINESE CERAMIC

    Ru guanyao brush washer from the Northern Song Dynasty.

    There was a new world auction record for Chinese ceramics at Sotheby’s in Hong Kong today when a Ru Guanyao brush washer sold for £28.2 million.  The 900 year old vessel was bought by an anonymous purchaser.

    Ru guanyao, the court ware of the late Northern Song (960-1127), was commissioned by the imperial court and is the most revered of the Five Great Kilns. Its quasi mythical status over the millennium can be attributed to its short-lived production period, generally believed to not have exceeded twenty years.

    The brush washer, formerly in the collection of the Chang Foundation in the Hongxi Museum, Taipei, is a pre-eminent example of Ru guanyao and incarnates to perfection the ware’s revered qualities. While seemingly small and unobtrusive, these understated aesthetics reflect the calibre and meticulousness of its craftsmanship, a quiet metaphor of Chinese philosophy celebrated by erudite connoisseurs and scholars throughout time. Measuring 13cm in diameter, the washer is one of only four known heirloom Ru wares in private hands.

    (See post on antiquesandartireland.com for August 24, 2017)

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