NORTHERN SONG DYNASTY, 11TH-12TH CENTURY

These charming plain bowls rely solely on their elegant form, meticulous potting and beautiful and lustrous olive-green glaze for their appeal. It is with such deceptively simple pieces that we truly understand why the monochrome wares of Song dynasty China are so widely celebrated.

A similar bowl excavated at the Yaozhou kilns was exhibited in Osaka, and is published by the Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka, in Chugoku Toji Shirizu-Yoshugama no Seiji, 1991, p. 18, no. 50. Another similar bowl is illustrated in The Masterpieces of Yaozhou Ware, Osaka, 1997, p. 44, no. 55.