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Lot Essay
While bowls of this lobed conical form continued to be made at the Yaozhou kilns well into the Northern Song period, the paler body, thinner potting and very neatly pared foot rim of the current example are all characteristic of bowls produced during the Five Dynasties period. A very similar Yaozhou flower-shaped bowl, dated Five Dynasties or Northern Song, 10th century, but with a small applique of a turtle at the center of the interior, rather than a small bird such as that of the present bowl, is illustrated by R. Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, vol. Three (II), London, 2006, p. 474, no. 1475.
A line drawing of a very similar small molded bird is illustrated in Wudai Huangpu Yaozhi (Excavation of the Five Dynasties Period Kiln-Site at Huangpu in Tongchuan, Shaanxi), Beijing, 1997, p. 259, pl. 142-10. A similar molded bird-form applique can be seen in the center of a Yaozhou bowl of plain, rounded form illustrated in The Masterpieces of Yaozhou Ware, Tokyo, 1997, p. 19, no. 15, where two bowls of similar form to that of the present bowl, but without the applique in the center, from the Ataka Collection, are illustrated, p. 21, nos. 20 and 21. A further similar bowl, but also lacking the applique in the center, in the collection of Sui Ling Koo, is illustrated by R. Kerr, Song Through 21st Century Eyes: Yaozhou and Qingbai Ceramics, The Netherlands, 2009, pp. 16-17, no. 1-1. Kerr illustrates the same bowl again, along with a detail of the foot, in "Subtle Hues and Delicate Forms: Yaozhou Wares of the 10th Century", Arts of Asia, vol. 40, no. 1, p. 120, nos. 12 and 13, respectively.
A line drawing of a very similar small molded bird is illustrated in Wudai Huangpu Yaozhi (Excavation of the Five Dynasties Period Kiln-Site at Huangpu in Tongchuan, Shaanxi), Beijing, 1997, p. 259, pl. 142-10. A similar molded bird-form applique can be seen in the center of a Yaozhou bowl of plain, rounded form illustrated in The Masterpieces of Yaozhou Ware, Tokyo, 1997, p. 19, no. 15, where two bowls of similar form to that of the present bowl, but without the applique in the center, from the Ataka Collection, are illustrated, p. 21, nos. 20 and 21. A further similar bowl, but also lacking the applique in the center, in the collection of Sui Ling Koo, is illustrated by R. Kerr, Song Through 21st Century Eyes: Yaozhou and Qingbai Ceramics, The Netherlands, 2009, pp. 16-17, no. 1-1. Kerr illustrates the same bowl again, along with a detail of the foot, in "Subtle Hues and Delicate Forms: Yaozhou Wares of the 10th Century", Arts of Asia, vol. 40, no. 1, p. 120, nos. 12 and 13, respectively.