J.J. Lally & Co., Oriental Art / New York City, New York
MenuPast Exhibition
Chinese Porcelain and Silver in the Song Dynasty
March 18 - April 8, 2002
24.
A YINGQING PORCELAIN GOURD-SHAPED EWER AND COVER
Northern Song Dynasty, A.D. 11th/12th Century
well potted as a narrow-waisted double gourd, the slightly smaller upper bulb of ovoid form joined to the almost spherical lower bulb by a grooved strap handle of arched form, applied opposite a slender tapered spout rising in a graceful curve from the shoulder of the lower bulb which is engraved on the shoulders with a pair of concentric rings, the narrow circular mouth fitted with a domed cover also engraved with double rings and applied with a twisted knop imitating the stem of the gourd, the body entirely plain except for leaf-shaped ornaments with feathery edges carved around the base of the spout and handle in imitation of the silver prototype, the glaze of translucent pale bluish color and even tone throughout, the wedge-shaped ring foot enclosing a recessed base left partially unglazed revealing the fine white porcelain body, and with five dark burnt areas around the edges left from kiln supports used in the firing.
Height 9 inches (22.8 cm)
No other Yingqing ewer of this form and size has been previously published, but a smaller Yingqing ewer of related shape, with the same engraved foliate terminals but more tapered lower bulb and more narrow upper bulb, from the collection of H.J. Oppenheim, is in the British Museum, illustrated in Oriental Ceramics, The World's Greatest Collections, Vol. 5, 1981, no. 69.
A Dingyao ewer of similar double-gourd form in the National Palace Museum, Taiwan, is illustrated in the Catalogue of the Special Exhibition of Ting Ware White Porcelain, Taipei, 1987, pl. 10.
Compare also the blue Junyao ewer of closely related form exhibited at the University of Maryland in 1972 and illustrated in the catalogue entitled Chinese Art from the Ferris Luboshez Collection, no. 121. A white porcelain gourd-form ewer and cover is illustrated by William Watson in Tang and Liao Ceramics, London, 1984, p. 68, no. 39, there dated to the first half of the 10th century and reported to have been excavated at Changsha, Hunan province but is attributed by the author to a Northern Chinese kiln, probably in Heibei province, because no white wares of comparable quality have been found at Hunan kiln sites.
24.
A YINGQING PORCELAIN GOURD-SHAPED EWER AND COVER
Northern Song Dynasty, A.D. 11th/12th Century
Height 9 inches (22.8 cm)