Page 43 - Longsdorf Collection of Song Ceramics, 2013, J.J. Lally, New York

20. A Qingbai Glazed P orcelain Cosmetic Box And Cover
Northern Song Dynasty (A.D. 960–1127)

of domed circular form, the dished lower half with steeply rounded sides raised on a high flaring
ring foot, applied on the interior with a central florette on a straight stem surrounded by two
miniature saucers and a miniature cup, with curling lotus stems bearing small leaves and buds
between them, enclosed by an inset canted rim to receive the close-fitting domed cover decorated
with incised scroll motifs around a florette medallion pierced through the center with an aperture
to receive a silk cord to serve as a handle, all under a glossy translucent glaze of pale bluish tone,
the interior and exterior of the base glazed to match, the rims and the interior of the cover unglazed
revealing the fine white porcelain, the recessed base also unglazed, with a burnt ring left by the
kiln support.
Diameter 5 inches (12.8 cm)

A Qingbai cosmetic box and cover of very similar form excavated in 1994 at Tiling village, Yuexi county, Anqing city, Anhui
province is illustrated by Zhang (ed.) in Zhongguo chutu ciqi quanji (8) Anhui (Complete Collection of Ceramic Art Unearthed
in China, Vol. 8, Anhui), Beijing, 2008, p. 107, no. 107. Another Qingbai cosmetic box and cover of this type excavated from
the Dakou kiln site, Pucheng county, Fujian province, now in the Pucheng Museum, is illustrated by Zhang, op. cit., Vol. 11,
Fujian, p. 118, no. 118.
A smaller example of similar form, lacking the cover, is illustrated in Chinese Ceramics at the National Museum of Korea,
Seoul, 2007, p. 273, no. 170.
A Qingbai cosmetic box of closely related form unearthed in 1983 at De’an county, Jiangxi province from the tomb of
Madam Liu, dated by epitaph to the fifth year of Jingyou (A.D. 1038), now in the De’an County Museum, is illustrated by Peng
(ed.) in Dated Qingbai Wares of the Song and Yuan Dynasties, Hong Kong, 1998, p. 42, no. 7.
Compare also the Qingbai cosmetic box of this type illustrated in the catalogue of the London Oriental Ceramic Society
exhibition, The Arts of the Sung Dynasty, London, 1960, pl. 76, no. 217, from the Collection of Captain and Mrs. Bulkeley-
Johnson; the same box is illustrated again in the catalogue of the London OCS Jubilee exhibition, The Ceramic Art of China,
London, 1971, pl. 85, no. 124.

北宋 青白劃花蓋盒 徑 12.8 厘米