Page 55 - Longsdorf Collection of Song Ceramics, 2013, J.J. Lally, New York

28. A Qingbai Glazed P orcelain Covered W ine Ewer
And Warming Basin
Northern Song Dynasty (A.D. 960–1127)
the ewer with gently rounded cylindrical body, canted shoulder and tall tubular neck with very
slightly flared lipless rim, fitted with a dished cover with bud finial applied with a small ring for
attachment to a matching ring at the top of the high arching handle rising opposite the long slender
curving spout, with an incised leaf tip at the base of the spout and another at the base of the handle,
the body decorated with thick and thin incised horizontal bands, covered with a translucent glossy
glaze of light aquamarine tone continuing over the flat base, with four lightly burnt areas from
kiln supports around the edge of the base, the warming bowl with very slightly flaring straight
sides carved in high relief with three rows of overlapping slender pointed petals, resting on a high
ring foot enclosing a countersunk base, covered inside and out with a glossy glaze of stronger
aquamarine tone continuing over the foot and recessed base, the straight rim wiped clean of glaze
revealing the fine white porcelain.

Overall height 7 ⁄8 inches (19.4 cm)
5
Height of Ewer 7 inches (17.8 cm)
Height of Basin 4 ⁄2 inches (11.4 cm)
1
This type of Qingbai glazed wine ewer with close-fitting deep bowl for hot water to keep the wine warm is well known from
Song dynasty paintings and tomb murals, but complete porcelain examples are rare.
The form and decoration varies widely, but related Qingbai ewers and warming bowls in museum collections are published.
Compare, for example, the covered ewer of related form with carved peony decoration illustrated by Tseng and Dart in The
Charles B. Hoyt Collection in the Museum of Fine Arts: Boston, Vol. II, Boston, 1972, no. 78; and a Qingbai glazed ewer similar
to the present example but with lobed body illustrated in Chinese Ceramics in the Idemitsu Museum Collection, Tokyo 1987,
no. 417. A Qingbai glazed deep bowl with straight sides similarly decorated with overlapping pointed petals on the exterior
is illustrated by Gyllensvärd, Chinese Ceramics in the Carl Kempe Collection, Stockholm, 1964, p. 163, no. 528.
北宋 青白執壺及溫酒碗托 通高 19.4 厘米 執壺高 17.8 厘米 碗托高 11.4 厘米