We have the pleasure of introducing to you the Littleton & Hennessy Asian Art exhibition at TEFAF Maastricht 2013. Our TEFAF 2013 exhibition offers a broad selection of exquisite (imperial) ceramics, bronzes and other beautifully crafted pieces.
The highlights include:

• Two exceptional Song Dynasty pieces from the highly esteemed Ingram Family Collection: a Jun-ware bottle vase and a persimmon-glazed Meiping
• A pair of rare enamel pricket candle holders with zoomorphic handles (Qianlong marks and of the period).

The Jun yao bottle-shaped vase is an excellent example of the level of craftsmanship developed in the late Northern Song Dynasty. The funnel shaped, slender neck has evolved from one of the earliest examples currently in the Tokyo National Museum, which shows a gently expanded lip. The next stage in the development of Jun-ware bottle vases sees copper pigment added to the glaze, as can be seen in the vase in the collection of the Percival David Foundation (PDF 92), on display at the British Museum.

The Ingram Family Collection numbered thousands of Chinese and Japanese works of art, mainly early bronzes, ceramics and jades. In 1956 Sir Herbert Ingram presented a large part of his collection to the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. Both the Jun-ware bottle vase and the persimmon-glazed Meiping formerly in this collection have been exhibited at the ‘Sung Dynasty Wares, Chun and Brown Glazes’ exhibition of the Oriental Ceramic Society, London in 1952.