SOUTHERN SONG DYNASTY, 12TH-13TH CENTURY

Beautiful crackle-glazed Longquan bowls of this type may have been made in imitation of Guan wares, but in view of the pale body, the well- controlled sea-green color and the texture of the glaze, it seems more likely that this was a specific Longquan type. This rather delicate conical form, standing on a small foot, is also seen in uncrackled Southern Song Longquan wares, like the example included in the Illustrated Catalogue of Celadon Wares in the Percival David Foundation, London, rev. ed., 1997, p. 29, no. 231.

The present bowl is very well potted, and the elegant conical form is shown to good advantage by the glaze. Bowls of this type have been excavated from the Song dynasty kiln at Shifangxian; see Celadons from Longquan Kilns, Taipei, 1998, p. 166, no. 137. A slightly larger bowl of this type, with a metal-bound rim, is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - 33 - Porcelain of the Song Dynasty (II), Hong Kong, 1996, p. 151, no. 136, where it is dated to the Song dynasty and it is noted to have been in the Qing court collection. A bowl of similar type is also in the National Palace Museum, Taiwan, and is illustrated in China at the Inception of the Second Millennium - Art and Culture of the Sung Dynasty, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 2000, p. 167, no. III-21.