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Lot Essay
The character incised on the base of the current box, Yuan (literal meaning ‘garden’), could possibly be the abbreviation for Houyuan, the name of a palace institute under the imperial household department, which according to Song Shi (The History of Song), was in charge of palace maintenance as well as utensils used by imperial family members during the Northern Song dynasty.
The Houyuan institute continued its existence during the Southern Song dynasty, after the Jurchens took over the northern part of China in the 12th century. In 2009, numerous Song-dynasty shards were found in a chemical plant in Hangzhou, which sits on a site where government officials hosted foreign diplomats within the capital during the Southern Song dynasty. Yue shards incised with the characters Yuan and Houyuan were found, suggesting that ceramic pieces with Yuan and Houyuan inscriptions were also used by Southern Song government agencies.
There are also examples of Ding vessels incised with inscription reading Huayuan (also meaning ‘garden’), such as a bowl and a dish from the Percival David Foundation Collection, now housed at the British Museum (accession no. PDF.177 and PDF.184). The Palace Museum also has a number of Ding wares incised with various palace names, including Jin Yuan, illustrated by Feng Xianming in ‘Ciqi qianshuo’, Wenwu, 1959, issue 7. These vessels, including our current box, are undoubtedly related to the Song dynasty imperial household department or government bureaucracies.
The Houyuan institute continued its existence during the Southern Song dynasty, after the Jurchens took over the northern part of China in the 12th century. In 2009, numerous Song-dynasty shards were found in a chemical plant in Hangzhou, which sits on a site where government officials hosted foreign diplomats within the capital during the Southern Song dynasty. Yue shards incised with the characters Yuan and Houyuan were found, suggesting that ceramic pieces with Yuan and Houyuan inscriptions were also used by Southern Song government agencies.
There are also examples of Ding vessels incised with inscription reading Huayuan (also meaning ‘garden’), such as a bowl and a dish from the Percival David Foundation Collection, now housed at the British Museum (accession no. PDF.177 and PDF.184). The Palace Museum also has a number of Ding wares incised with various palace names, including Jin Yuan, illustrated by Feng Xianming in ‘Ciqi qianshuo’, Wenwu, 1959, issue 7. These vessels, including our current box, are undoubtedly related to the Song dynasty imperial household department or government bureaucracies.