The Song dynasty is renowned for the simple elegance of both its lacquer and ceramic ware, where restrained decoration and beautifully balanced elegant shapes were the main characteristics. The present dish succinctly exemplifies the design concepts of the period. Its large size and slender chrysanthemum petal fluting is much rarer than the broader lobes seen on a number of other lacquer and ceramic objects dating to the Song period, such as the high-footed lacquer bowl with an inscription dating to A.D. 1066 in the Museé Guimet, illustrated in Tresors de Musee National du Palais, Taipei: Memoire d'Empire, Paris, 1998, p. 139. Another example (21.6 cm. diam.) of similar shape, from the collection of the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, is illustrated in Hai-wai Yi-chen, Chinese Art in Overseas Collections: Lacquerware, 1987, no. 35. A smaller dish with similarly slender fluting was sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 30 April 2001, lot 622. The chrysanthemum form is also found on fine ceramics of the Song dynasty. The closest in shape and size to the current lacquer vessel is a Guan ware dish in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, included in the exhibition, China at the Inception of the Second Millennium - Art and Culture of the Song Dynasty, 2000, and illustrated in the Catalogue, p. 37. There are also examples of Ding ware dishes with fluted cavettos combined with a flattened rim and moulded decoration, such as the one from the Percival David Foundation, London, illustrated by J. Wirgin, Sung Ceramic Designs, London, 1979, pl. 98; and an example sold at Christie's King Street, 4 November 2008, lot 146.