拍品專文
Examples of Dingyao vessels carved both inside and out are very rare and this style of decoration occurs only on dishes, bowls and basins of the finest quality where the exceptionally fluid carving of floral and animal subjects are accompanied by a lustrous glaze of clear texture with a tinge of pale ivory.
There appears to be no other Dingyao dish of this design; the nearest example is a similarly-lobed dish in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, included in the Special Exihibition of Dragon-Motif Porcelain, Taipei, 1983, Catalogue, no.7 with a central dragon facing the opposite direction, and a lotus flower scroll in place of the peony-like flowers of the present lot. Two other bowls with more closely related designs, also from the National Palace Museum were included in the Special Exhibition of Ting Ware White Porcelain, Taipei, 1987, Catalogue, no.34, a lobed bowl carved inside and out with an identical floral scroll around the central dragon, and a more shallow bowl without lobes, no.35, of similar design.
Dingyao is one of the five great wares of the Song dynasty, and its translucent whiteness in contrast to the colours of the other four great wares, Guan, Ge and Ru and the opaque opalescence of Junyao gives it a unique understated beauty. Its virtues are a fine, white and thin body with a glaze that is almost bubble free. The invention of 'upside down' firing pioneered at this kiln led to copper bound mouthrims and footrims were consequently low and thinly stripped rings. The cleanly cut flowing lines of the best freely drawn designs sweep around the surface with a fluidity akin to the flow of a painters brush. The fact that the designs are not always immediately apparent to the eye lends this ware to extensive handling for a full appreciation of its tactile thinness, the smoothness of the its glaze and the quality of the carving.
For other examples of commensurate quality decorated inside and out, cf. a large basin carved with scrolling lotus in the Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, illustrated in Oriental Ceramics, Kodansha Series, vol. 6, pl.11 and a larger, and more densely decorated shallow basin, ibid. pl.12; cf. the deep basin in the Ataka Collection, illustrated in Sekai Toji Zenshu, Shogakukan series, vol.12, pl. 8 which is a variation on its counterpart in the Percival David Foundation. The present lot is of comparable quality to these, but has a more formalised design to conform to its shape with its wide lobed sides containing one decorative element, and its central medallion, a dragon
There appears to be no other Dingyao dish of this design; the nearest example is a similarly-lobed dish in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, included in the Special Exihibition of Dragon-Motif Porcelain, Taipei, 1983, Catalogue, no.7 with a central dragon facing the opposite direction, and a lotus flower scroll in place of the peony-like flowers of the present lot. Two other bowls with more closely related designs, also from the National Palace Museum were included in the Special Exhibition of Ting Ware White Porcelain, Taipei, 1987, Catalogue, no.34, a lobed bowl carved inside and out with an identical floral scroll around the central dragon, and a more shallow bowl without lobes, no.35, of similar design.
Dingyao is one of the five great wares of the Song dynasty, and its translucent whiteness in contrast to the colours of the other four great wares, Guan, Ge and Ru and the opaque opalescence of Junyao gives it a unique understated beauty. Its virtues are a fine, white and thin body with a glaze that is almost bubble free. The invention of 'upside down' firing pioneered at this kiln led to copper bound mouthrims and footrims were consequently low and thinly stripped rings. The cleanly cut flowing lines of the best freely drawn designs sweep around the surface with a fluidity akin to the flow of a painters brush. The fact that the designs are not always immediately apparent to the eye lends this ware to extensive handling for a full appreciation of its tactile thinness, the smoothness of the its glaze and the quality of the carving.
For other examples of commensurate quality decorated inside and out, cf. a large basin carved with scrolling lotus in the Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, illustrated in Oriental Ceramics, Kodansha Series, vol. 6, pl.11 and a larger, and more densely decorated shallow basin, ibid. pl.12; cf. the deep basin in the Ataka Collection, illustrated in Sekai Toji Zenshu, Shogakukan series, vol.12, pl. 8 which is a variation on its counterpart in the Percival David Foundation. The present lot is of comparable quality to these, but has a more formalised design to conform to its shape with its wide lobed sides containing one decorative element, and its central medallion, a dragon