J.J. Lally & Co., Oriental Art / New York City, New York

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Past Exhibition

Chinese Ceramics in Black and White

March 20–April 10, 2010

15.
A DINGYAO WHITE PORCELAIN JAR AND COVER

Five Dynasties (A.D. 907–960)

of almost spherical form with thinly potted sides, decorated on the exterior with petal lappets with double-line borders freely incised between the edge of the shallow ring foot and the twin grooves around the in-curved mouth, the domed cover with matching twin grooves at the rim and a curling stalk-form knop, the fine white porcelain covered with a transparent glaze of slightly yellowish tone continuing over the flat base, the footrim and interior of the cover left unglazed.

Height 3 inches (7.6 cm)

From the Collection of Carl Kempe (1884–1967), Ekolsund, Sweden, no. 308

Published

Gyllensvärd, Chinese Ceramics in the Carl Kempe Collection, Stockholm, 1964, p. 105, pl. 308

Gyllensvärd, The World’s Great Collections: Oriental Ceramics, Vol. 8, Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockholm, Tokyo, 1982, pl. 47

Watson, Tang and Liao Ceramics, London, 1984, p. 165, no. 160

A similar Dingyao white porcelain jar and cover with incised decoration of overlapping petal lappets, with the character “guan” engraved on the base, in the collection of the Shanghai Museum, is illustrated in Zhongguo taoci quanji (9) Dingyao (Compendium of Chinese Ceramics, Vol 9, Dingware), Kyoto, 1981, no. 6, and the same vessel is illustrated again in Zhongguo wenwu jinghua daquan: Taocijuan (Compendium of Chinese Archaeological Treasures: Ceramics), Hong Kong, 1993, p. 255, no. 276. Another Dingyao white porcelain jar and cover of this form with incised petal lappets, from the Calmann collection now in the Musée Guimet is illustrated in Terre de Neige, de Glace et d’Ombre: Quatorze siècles d’histoire de la céramique chinoise à travers les collections du Musée Guimet, Taipei, 1999, p. 122, no. 68.

A small glazed white porcelain jar and cover without the incised decoration, from the Avery Brundage Collection and now in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, is illustrated by He Li in Chinese Ceramics: The New Standard Guide, London, 1996, p. 104, no. 201, described as Hebei Ding ware made in the Five Dynasties period.

Compare also the small Ding ware jar of this type, missing its cover, with similar incised decoration and with the two characters “xing guan” at the base, in the Tokyo National Museum, published in Illustrated Catalogue of the Tokyo National Museum: Chinese Ceramics, Vol. I, Tokyo, 1988, p. 87, no. 342. The same jar was illustrated in the catalogue of the exhibition organized by the Nezu Institute of Fine Arts, White Porcelain of Ding Yao, Tokyo, 1983, illustrated on p. 81, no. 99, with description on p. 151.

五代    定窰白瓷小蓋罐    高 7.6 厘米