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Lot Essay
This superb bowl is a classic example of the Song-dynasty Ding ware bowls which have been greatly admired by literati and officials since their initial manufacture. In the poem Shiyuan jiancha (Tea Brewing in the Examination Hall), the esteemed Song-dynasty literatus Su Shi recalls an event where tea turned red against a caved Ding white-glazed bowl, resembling carved red jade. This poem reveals both that Ding bowls were used for tea drinking, and more importantly, that they were favored by the literati at the time. Interestingly, in 1093, two decades after Su Shi wrote the poem, he was appointed Governor of Dingzhou, the province where the Ding kilns were located. Su Shi’s praise solidified the status of Ding porcelains amongst subsequent connoisseurs, such as the Jin-dynasty scholar Liu Qi (1203–1259), who wrote in a poem Dingzhou huaciou, yanse tianxia bai (decorated porcelain bowls from Dingzhou have the best white color under Heaven).
The current bowl is particularly distinguished for its elegant form, fluid carving and resplendent glaze. A hexafoil bowl of similar form and size, but with lotus carved in a slightly different style, in the Beijing Palace Museum Collection, is illustrated in Zhongguo taoci quanji – Dingyao, Shanghai, 1981, pl. 90. See, also, the Ding hexafoil bowl sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 26 November 2018, lot 8005.
Other comparable Ding bowls with carved lotus design include a further example in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - 32 - Porcelain of the Song Dynasty (I), Hong Kong, 1996, p. 60, no. 52, from the Qing court collection; in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Gugong songci tulu (Illustrated Catalogue of Sung Dynasty Porcelain in the National Palace Museum), Ting Ware and Ting-Type Ware, Taipei, 1973, no.18; in the British Museum from the Oppenheim Collection, illustrated by J. Rawson in The World’s Great Collections: Oriental Ceramics, Vol. 5, The British Museum, London, Tokyo, 1981, col. pl. 20; in the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, illustrated by J. Wirgin, ‘Sung Ceramics Designs’, B.M.F.E.A. No. 42, Stockholm, 1970, pl. 60; and the example illustrated by D. Leidy in the Asia Society, illustrated inTreasures of Asian Art – The Asia Society’s Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection, New York, 1994, no. 144, p. 154; in the Newark Museum from the Jaehne Collection, illustrated by Reynolds and Pei, Chinese Art from the Newark Museum, China Institute, New York, 1980, no. 13, p. 31; and in the Idemitsu Museum, illustrated in Chinese Ceramics in the Idemitsu Collection, Tokyo, 1987, no. 413.
The current bowl is particularly distinguished for its elegant form, fluid carving and resplendent glaze. A hexafoil bowl of similar form and size, but with lotus carved in a slightly different style, in the Beijing Palace Museum Collection, is illustrated in Zhongguo taoci quanji – Dingyao, Shanghai, 1981, pl. 90. See, also, the Ding hexafoil bowl sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 26 November 2018, lot 8005.
Other comparable Ding bowls with carved lotus design include a further example in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - 32 - Porcelain of the Song Dynasty (I), Hong Kong, 1996, p. 60, no. 52, from the Qing court collection; in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Gugong songci tulu (Illustrated Catalogue of Sung Dynasty Porcelain in the National Palace Museum), Ting Ware and Ting-Type Ware, Taipei, 1973, no.18; in the British Museum from the Oppenheim Collection, illustrated by J. Rawson in The World’s Great Collections: Oriental Ceramics, Vol. 5, The British Museum, London, Tokyo, 1981, col. pl. 20; in the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, illustrated by J. Wirgin, ‘Sung Ceramics Designs’, B.M.F.E.A. No. 42, Stockholm, 1970, pl. 60; and the example illustrated by D. Leidy in the Asia Society, illustrated inTreasures of Asian Art – The Asia Society’s Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection, New York, 1994, no. 144, p. 154; in the Newark Museum from the Jaehne Collection, illustrated by Reynolds and Pei, Chinese Art from the Newark Museum, China Institute, New York, 1980, no. 13, p. 31; and in the Idemitsu Museum, illustrated in Chinese Ceramics in the Idemitsu Collection, Tokyo, 1987, no. 413.