NORTHERN SONG DYNASTY, 11TH-12TH CENTURY

Details

AN EXCEPTIONALLY RARE PERSIMMON-GLAZED DING-TYPE MALLOW-SHAPED DISH
NORTHERN SONG DYNASTY, 11TH-12TH CENTURY
The dish is thinly potted with the flat base rising to flared sides and a petal-shaped rim, supported on a short ring foot. It is covered in a lustrous rust-brown glaze which thins at the rim, with the exception of the biscuit foot ring.
7 1/4 in. (18.4 cm.) diam., Japanese wood box

Provenance

Lord Cunliffe Collection, no. 43
John Sparks Ltd., London
Christie's Hong Kong, 29 April 2002, lot 600
Sen Shu Tey, Tokyo

Literature

The Oriental Ceramic Society, Transactions of the Oriental Ceramic Society, London, 1960, vol. 32, pl. 34, no. 79
Sen Shu Tey, The Collection of Chinese Art, Tokyo, 2006, p. 62, no. 75
Christie's, The Classical Age of Chinese Ceramics: An Exhibition of Song Treasures from the Linyushanren Collection, Hong Kong, 2012, pp. 40-41, no. 8

Exhibited

The Oriental Ceramic Society, The Arts of the Sung Dynasty, London, 16 June to 23 July 1960, Catalogue, no. 79
Sen Shu Tey, Special Exhibition ‘Run Through 10 Years’, Tokyo, 2006, Catalogue, no. 75
Christie's, The Classical Age of Chinese Ceramics: An Exhibition of Song Treasures from the Linyushanren Collection, Hong Kong, 22 to 27 November 2012; New York, 15 to 20 March 2013; London, 10 to 14 May 2013, Catalogue, no. 8

Brought to you by

Ruben Lien

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Lot Essay

Dishes of mallow-shape are rarely found among persimmon-glazed wares. A very similar dish is in the Idemitsu Museum of Arts, Tokyo, illustrated in Chinese Ceramics in the Idemitsu Collection, Tokyo, 1987, pl. 525. A similar persimmon-glazed mallow-shaped dish is attributed to Ding ware, illustrated in Nezu Museum, The Colors and Forms of Song and Yuan China: Featuring Lacquerwares, Ceramics, and Metalwares, Tokyo, 2004, Catalogue, no. 24. Another persimmon-glazed mallow-shaped dish from the Tokyo National Museum collection with a circular unglazed area on the interior is attributed to Cizhou ware, illustrated in ibid., Catalogue, no. 25.

The mallow shape was also popular in lacquer wares of the period, for example a red and black dish and a lobed bowl, dated to the Northern Song dynasty, included in the O.C.S. Hong Kong, exhibition, 2000 Years of Chinese Lacquer, 1993, and illustrated in the Catalogue, nos. 11 and 12. Compare also a Song dynasty black lacquer dish from the Lee Family Collection, sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 3 December 2008, lot 2103, and a red lacquer example, also from the Lee Family Collection, sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 28 November 2012, lot 2080.

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