NORTHERN SONG/JIN DYNASTY (960-1234)

Images of fish have been used to decorate Chinese ceramics from the Neolithic period, and have remained a popular theme - providing both form and decoration. The Song dynasty saw an even greater use of fish for decoration on ceramics. Amongst the most elegant were the fish carved and incised under the glaze of the classic Northern Song Ding wares, such as that carved in the interior of the large bowl from the Qing Court Collection, illustrated in Porcelain of the Song Dynasty (I), The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 1996, p. 64, no. 56; a smaller dish in the Percival David Foundation, see M. Medley, Illustrated Catalogue of Ting and Allied Wares, Percival David Foundation, London, 1980, pl. V, no. 29; and two bowls included in the Special Exhibition of Ting Ware White Porcelain, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1987, Catalogue, nos. 48 and 49. The latter bowl, in particular, has a lobed, metal-bound rim.

Much of the popularity of fish as a decorative theme, especially in later dynasties, hinges on the fact that the word for fish, yu, is a homophone for the word for abundance or surplus - thus two fish represent doubled abundance and a gold fish an abundance of gold. The depiction of fish in water, as on the current dish, has also come to provide a rebus for Yushui hexie, 'May you be as harmonious as fish and water'. Such symbolism is particularly appropriate in the context of marriage, and decoration including two fish additionally symbolizes both fertility and conjugal happiness in the same context.