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拍品专文
The current dish, incised under the glaze with the inscription Shang Shi Ju (Imperial Food Bureau), indicates it was made for use inside the palace during the Northern Song or Jin Dynasty. According to Song Huiyao Jigao (Song Government Manuscript Compendium), six Imperial Bureaus were established under the Department of Palace Services during the Northern Song dynasty, in charge of various palace household affairs including dining, medication, wine, attire, bedding and transportation. One of these Six Bureaus was Shang Shi Ju (Imperial Food Bureau), in charge of anything food-related within the palace. Such institution continued to exist in the succeeding Jin dynasty, with very similar functions serving the imperial family.
Ding wares bearing Shang Shi Ju inscriptions were made since the late Northern Song dynasty. A Ding bowl incised with dragons and the same inscription, for example, was excavated from the late Northern Song strata at the Ding kilns (Jianciling Area A), included in The Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka exhibition White Porcelain of Ding Yao, Osaka, 2013, pl. 33. However our current dish is closer in style with Ding wares from the Jin dynasty. In 1960-1963, a fragment of a dish moulded with Makara motifs and incised with the Shang Shi Ju inscription, was unearthed from the Jin dynasty strata at the Ding kiln site in Jianciling in Quyang (fig. 1). The moulded decoration, size and calligraphic style of the inscription on this fragment are remarkably similar to our current Ding dish, suggesting the similar date of manufacture of the two pieces. A rubbing of the sherd is illustrated by Liu Tao, Dated Ceramics of the Song, Liao and Jin Periods, Beijing, 2004, p. 162, fig. 13-3. Another Ding dish with almost identical Makara motifs and incised with the same inscription is in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Selection of Ding Ware: the Palace Museum’s Collection and Archaeological Excavation, Beijing, 2012, pl. 116 (fig. 2).
While the Makara appears to be a mythical beast of Indian origin comprising elements from creatures such as crocodile, elephant and fish, there is a considerable degree of sinicisation to the ones on the current dish, most notably the dragon-like head paired with wings, which echoes the yinglong, a form of winged dragon mentioned in the Shanhai Jing (Classic of Mountains and Seas). It is uncommon to find a Ding ware decorated with the Makara motif- even rarer with the Shang Shi Ju inscription. Formerly from the collection of the illustrious collector J.M. Hu, this dish is exceptionally rare with remarkable provenance.
Ding wares bearing Shang Shi Ju inscriptions were made since the late Northern Song dynasty. A Ding bowl incised with dragons and the same inscription, for example, was excavated from the late Northern Song strata at the Ding kilns (Jianciling Area A), included in The Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka exhibition White Porcelain of Ding Yao, Osaka, 2013, pl. 33. However our current dish is closer in style with Ding wares from the Jin dynasty. In 1960-1963, a fragment of a dish moulded with Makara motifs and incised with the Shang Shi Ju inscription, was unearthed from the Jin dynasty strata at the Ding kiln site in Jianciling in Quyang (fig. 1). The moulded decoration, size and calligraphic style of the inscription on this fragment are remarkably similar to our current Ding dish, suggesting the similar date of manufacture of the two pieces. A rubbing of the sherd is illustrated by Liu Tao, Dated Ceramics of the Song, Liao and Jin Periods, Beijing, 2004, p. 162, fig. 13-3. Another Ding dish with almost identical Makara motifs and incised with the same inscription is in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Selection of Ding Ware: the Palace Museum’s Collection and Archaeological Excavation, Beijing, 2012, pl. 116 (fig. 2).
While the Makara appears to be a mythical beast of Indian origin comprising elements from creatures such as crocodile, elephant and fish, there is a considerable degree of sinicisation to the ones on the current dish, most notably the dragon-like head paired with wings, which echoes the yinglong, a form of winged dragon mentioned in the Shanhai Jing (Classic of Mountains and Seas). It is uncommon to find a Ding ware decorated with the Makara motif- even rarer with the Shang Shi Ju inscription. Formerly from the collection of the illustrious collector J.M. Hu, this dish is exceptionally rare with remarkable provenance.