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Lot Essay
The inscription may be translated as ‘Yi Ding vessels [are white] as frosty snow [by] the light of the moon through ten thousand li of clouds. On the sixth day of sixth month of the first year of Taipingxingguo reign, written by Liu Zhang of Jianzhou prefecture.’
The characters Yi Ding inscribed on the current dish can also be found and incised on two other Ding bowls dating to the Five Dynasties, one in the Shanghai Museum, the other in the Palace Museum, illustrated in Selection of Ding Ware: the Palace Museum’s Collection and Archaeological Excavation, Beijing, 2012, no. 30. There has been much scholarly debate over the interpretation of these two characters, with some suggesting Yi should be read as Yang, referring to Quyang where the Ding kilns are located; some suggesting they stand for Yizhou and Dingzhou in Hebei; and some suggesting this group were made for the military governor of Yiding area (Yiding jiedushi).
Three Ding vessels excavated from the underground palace of the Jingzhisi Temple pagoda were inscribed in ink with a Taipingxingguo second year date, corresponding to 977, one year after our current dish. The first is a lobed dish incised with a guan character, illustrated in Ding Kiln of China, Beijing, 2012, p. 72, no. 60. The second is a Ding box, illustrated in Liu Tao, Dated Ceramics of the Song, Liao and Jin Periods, Beijing, 2004, p. 4, no. 1-16. The third is a Ding censer moulded with Buddhist figures, illustrated in Complete Collection of Ceramics Art Unearthed in China -3- Hebei, Beijing, 2008, no. 93.
The characters Yi Ding inscribed on the current dish can also be found and incised on two other Ding bowls dating to the Five Dynasties, one in the Shanghai Museum, the other in the Palace Museum, illustrated in Selection of Ding Ware: the Palace Museum’s Collection and Archaeological Excavation, Beijing, 2012, no. 30. There has been much scholarly debate over the interpretation of these two characters, with some suggesting Yi should be read as Yang, referring to Quyang where the Ding kilns are located; some suggesting they stand for Yizhou and Dingzhou in Hebei; and some suggesting this group were made for the military governor of Yiding area (Yiding jiedushi).
Three Ding vessels excavated from the underground palace of the Jingzhisi Temple pagoda were inscribed in ink with a Taipingxingguo second year date, corresponding to 977, one year after our current dish. The first is a lobed dish incised with a guan character, illustrated in Ding Kiln of China, Beijing, 2012, p. 72, no. 60. The second is a Ding box, illustrated in Liu Tao, Dated Ceramics of the Song, Liao and Jin Periods, Beijing, 2004, p. 4, no. 1-16. The third is a Ding censer moulded with Buddhist figures, illustrated in Complete Collection of Ceramics Art Unearthed in China -3- Hebei, Beijing, 2008, no. 93.