Auction introduction: Foreword Nicolas Chow Chairman Asia | Worldwide Head and Chairman of Chinese Works of Art “This season it is a great privilege for us to pay homage to the late Tatsuo Hirano and the illustrious Hirano Kotoken dealership with a beautiful collection of Song ceramics assembled in the last 20 years by Ryoichi Hirano. The assemblage exemplifies the most refined Japanese sensibility in Song ceramics and juxtaposes superlative pieces, such as a spectacular Cizhou carved peony meiping, alongside more intimate objects - bowls, cups, censers - from all the most celebrated kilns of the period.”