NORTHERN SONG-JIN DYNASTY, 12TH-13TH CENTURY

Two shards with similar molded design, dated to the Northern Song dynasty, were found in 1987 at Tongchuan City, Yaozhou District, Shaanxi province, and are illustrated in The Masterpieces of Yaozhou Ware, The Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka, 1997, p. 114, nos. 161-62. A molded Yaozhou bowl of this design, and slightly larger size, (20 cm.) from the Qing Court Collection in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - 32 - Porcelain of the Song Dynasty (I), Hong Kong, 1996, p. 123, no. 109. See, also, the similar bowl sold at Christie's New York, 24 March 2004, lot 153. Neither of these last two bowls has the character in the center.