NORTHERN SONG DYNASTY, 10TH-11TH CENTURY

Details

A VERY RARE DINGYAO EWER
Northern Song dynasty, 10th-11th century
The tapering ovoid body raised on a low, straight foot and divided into five vertical lobes rising to a ridge on the high shoulder, the thinly waisted neck with horizontal grooves rising to the broadly flared mouth with upturned rim, covered overall with a creamy glaze of ivory tone
8¾in. (23cm.) high, box

Exhibited

Bright as Silver, White as Snow: Chinese White Ceramics from Late Tang to Yuan Dynasty, The Denver Art Museum, October 1998-October 1999, no. 14.

Lot Essay

A Dingyao vase with similar ribbed neck and raised collar around the shoulder is published in Zhongguo taoci quanji, vol. 9, Dingyao, Shanghai, 1981, no. 27. The present ewer also shares stylistic features with known Dingyao kundika, such as the example with a ribbed neck excavated from a temple site in Hebei dated to 995, illustrated by G. Hasebe, Sekai toji zenshu, vol. 12, Tokyo, 1977, p. 11, no. 2. See, also, the kundika of somewhat similar proportions, and with a raised collar around the shoulder, that was excavated in 1969 from Dingxian in Hebei, illustrated in Zhongguo taoci quanji, op. cit., no. 50.

The lack of a handle may indicate this extremely rare ewer may have been intended for ritualistic use, such as washing of the hands.

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