NORTHERN SONG DYNASTY (960-1127)

The Yaozhou kilns, known for their celadon wares, began production of persimmon-glazed wares during the mid-Song dynasty. The thick reddish-brown glaze covering these vessels was developed to imitate contemporary lacquer wares. The majority of the Yaozhou persimmon-glazed wares took the form of bowls or dishes, with only a handful of examples found in a vertical form.

While several Yaozhou persimmon-glazed meiping are recorded, none share the same form or surpass the present example in size. Compare two smaller examples sold at auctions, one (30.8 cm.) at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 24 November 2014, lot 1005, the other at Christie’s Hong Kong, 28 May 2014, lot 3216 (25.4 cm.)(fig. 1), both are potted with a waisted neck and a wider body; two truncated meiping, one (19 cm.) in the Idemitsu Collection, illustrated in Chinese Ceramics in the Idemitsu Collection, Tokyo, 1987, no. 112, another (15 cm.) excavated from the Lü Family tombs in Shaanxi province, illustrated in Yaozhou Kilns of China, Beijing, 2014, p. 325, fig. 14; and a small meiping with a wide everted mouth and a straight neck in the National Museum of Korea, illustrated in Sekai Toji Zenshu, vol. 12, Tokyo, 1977, pp. 130-131, col. pl. 123 (14.6 cm.).