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

It is rare to see a Xingyao dish of this large size.

A series of recent excavations at Yangzhou, Jiangsu province, has added valuable information to the study of early white wares. Yangzhou, the ancient port city where the Yangzi River meets the Grand Canal connecting Beijing and Hangzhou, has been a center of commerce since the Tang dynasty. The majority of early white wares unearthed at Yangzhou were made at the Gongxian (Henan province), or the Ding and Xing kilns (Hebei province). It is not unusual to see closely related forms made by different kilns because the commissioned trade wares often followed the specifications of the buyer, not the preference of the potter. Several Tang dynasty white porcelain petal-lobed dishes in various sizes, all similar to the present example in form, have been found during excavations at Yangzhou.

Compare, for example, the large white porcelain dishes excavated at Yangzhou illustrated as line drawings by Chi and Xue, “Analysis of Tang Dynasty White Porcelains Excavated in Yangzhou,” formerly published in Dongnan Wenhua, 2001, No. 1, included in Xingyao yanjiu (Research on Xing Ware) by Zhang (ed.), Beijing, 2007, p. 575, pl. 1-5 and 1-6, described as Ding ware and Xing ware respectively; and on p. 577, pl. 2-9, described as Gongxian ware.

Compare also the large dish unearthed in Yangzhou, illustrated by Li and Zhu in “Discussions on a Group of Tang Dynasty Xingyao and Dingyao White Porcelains Excavated in Yangzhou,” formerly published in Wenwu chunqiu, 1997, included by Zhang, op. cit., Beijing, 2007, p. 371, pl. 3-5II, described as Ding ware.