A SMALL CARVED YAOZHOU DISH
A SMALL CARVED YAOZHOU DISH

NORTHERN SONG DYNASTY, 11TH-12TH CENTURY

Details
A SMALL CARVED YAOZHOU DISH
NORTHERN SONG DYNASTY, 11TH-12TH CENTURY
The dish is deftly carved and combed in the center of the interior with a bold design of turbulent waves. It is covered overall with an olive-green glaze suffused with fine crackles stopping irregularly in a circle around the unglazed, recessed center of the base, exposing the biscuit body, which is inscribed in ink with an indecipherable character.
5 in. (12.8 cm.) diam., Japanese wood box
Provenance
Sen Shu Tey, Tokyo.
Literature
Sen Shu Tey, The Collection of Chinese Art - Special Exhibition ‘Run Through 10 Years’, Tokyo, 2006, p. 57, no. 68.
Exhibited
Sen Shu Tey, Tokyo, The Collection of Chinese Art - Special Exhibition ‘Run Through 10 Years’, 2006.

Brought to you by

Margaret Gristina (葛曼琪)
Margaret Gristina (葛曼琪) Senior Specialist, Head of Private sales, Chinese Works of Art, New York

Lot Essay

Located at Huangpuzhen, Tongchuanxian, Shaanxi province, the Yaozhou kilns began production of a wide range of wares during the Tang dynasty. The kilns were well placed to use water transportation to the Northern Song capital at Kaifeng, and it is recorded that Yaozhou wares were presented as tribute to the Northern Song court. Both the official Song history and other literary sources mention such tribute gifts. For instance, the official gazetteer during the Yuanfeng era (1078-1085), Yuanfeng jiuyu zhi, mentions fifty sets of tribute ceramics sent to the court from Yaozhou.

A Yaozhou celadon dish carved with a similar wave design is illustrated by R. Krahl in Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, vol. 1, London, 1994, p. 233, no. 420, and another similar dish is illustrated in The Masterpieces of Yaozhou Ware, Tokyo, 1997, p. 36, no. 41.

More from The Classic Age of Chinese Ceramics: The Linyushanren Collection, Part II

View All
View All