A Longquan “Yen-Yen” Celadon Vase with Applied Scrolling Floral Decoration
Yuan Dynasty, 1271-1368 AD, China
Height: 25 cm
A “Yen Yen” or “Phoenix Tail” baluster form stoneware vase covered overall with an opaque bluish green Longquan celadon glaze. The piece sits on an unglazed foot rim of inverted beveled form.
The flared bottom section of the vase is decorated with overlapping elongated lotus petals. The center bulbous section has an applied decoration of scrolling peonies with leaves. The tall, flared neck is ringed with horizontal ridges, up to its flared trumpet mouth.
These pieces were used as flower vases for alters in temples and large residential settings. They were produced for both domestic and export markets.
A slightly larger piece of similar form and applied floral decoration appears in He Li’s “Chinese Ceramics, a New Comprehensive Survey from the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco”. Rizzoli, 1996. pl.362
Another example from the Yale University Art Gallery is illustrated in “Celadon on the Seas”, Yale University Press, 2024. Fig. 1.20.
Provenance:
From a Japanese Collection with double box and tea silks.
