Detail: Asia Week hours: by appointment from 11am-6pm daily

We are delighted to present an extraordinary exhibition of green glazed ceramics from China, Japan, Korea and Vietnam during Asia Week New York this March. Green Glazed Wares from China, Korea, Japan and Vietnam illustrates the evolution of celadons and other green glazes from their nexus in China to their adaption in other parts of Asia over 1400 years, and offers viewers a rare and valuable mini-course in these fields.

Nearly half of the objects are exquisite examples of Goryeo Dynasty (11th – 13th c.) Korean celadons, offering a rare opportunity to learn about this underappreciated field. The star of this group is a large tile from the 12th – 13th century with inlaid black and white scrolling floral and flying crane decoration, all under an ideally realized sweet blueish green celadon glaze. It comes from a Japanese collection, with only five other known examples of this type outside of Korea. Other examples from Korea include large pear-shaped vases, bowls and plates with varied decorative techniques and glaze tones.

Chinese pieces offer the greatest range of age, from the 5th century through the 18th century, most from old American and Japanese collections. The glaze types range from early Yue-ware examples to an 18th century “tea dust” glazed scholar’s object, with examples from several Northern and Southern Chinese kilns. A highlight of this group is a small “Yen-Yen”, otherwise known as “Phoenix Tail” shaped vase from the Yuan Dynasty, with applied decoration of scrolling flowers above a deeply carved band of elongated lotus petals, all beneath a ridged trumpet neck. Used as devotional flower vases, these pieces were often exported to Japan and Southeast Asia in the 14th century. This example is presented with double boxes and tea silks.

There are three examples of Vietnamese celadons, all from the 14th and 15th centuries, both from important American collections.

Another star of the show is a large Japanese “Ao-Oribe” indented bowl from the late 16th – early 17th century. The corners are dipped in an dark grassy green glaze, framing a central diagonal field of brown playful scrolling tendril decoration. The other Japanese entry is a 13th – 14th century Ko-Seto ewer with streaming translucent ash glaze.