17TH/18TH CENTURY

This lovely and rare small peach-shaped dish with a crackled glaze made in imitation of Song dynasty Guan ware reflects the Qing court's fascination with the classic wares of the past. The three great Qing emperors, Kangxi (1662-1722), Yongzheng (1723-35) and Qianlong (1736-95), were all enthusiastic collectors of antiques, and required that a number of the ceramics made for their courts were made in ancient style. The most esteemed early ceramics were the 'Five Great Wares of the Song Dynasty' - Ding, Jun, Ru, Ge and Guan. These ceramic wares had also been much admired prior to the Qing dynasty, and vessels imitating the crackled Guan- or Ge-ware glazes have been found among the imperial porcelains of the Xuande (1426-35) and Chenghua (1465-87) reigns of the Ming dynasty. However, the most successful copies of Guan ware appear to have been made in the 18th century under the direction of the great ceramicist Tang Ying, who was director of the imperial kiln from 1736-56.

In the case of the present dish, the potters have made every effort to faithfully reproduce not only the glaze of original Song dynasty Guan ware, but also aspects of its manufacture. The latter feature is apparent in the way the dish has been fired. The base has been fully glazed and the vessel has been fired standing on three small spurs, which have left small neat marks on the base. Firing on small spurs was one of the characteristics of Guan-ware open wares and certain other vessel forms. Three small spurs were also used to support the small Northern Song Guan-ware water dropper illustrated in the Catalogue of the Special Exhibition of Sung Dynasty Kuan Ware, The National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1989, nos. 125-31.