Page 165 - Christie's London May 14, 2019 Chinese Works of Art

This magnifcent Ding ware basin is a testament to the skill of the Northern A basin of very similar size (D: 32.5 cm) and shape to the current vessel
Song potter who made it and to the ambition of the patron who ordered from the Qing Court collection is preserved in the Palace Museum, Beijing
it. Such large vessels are rare amongst Ding wares, and posed a particular (illustrated in Porcelain of the Song Dynasty (1) – The Complete Collection of
challenge to the potters and kiln masters. Ding wares were fred in kilns Treasures of the Palace Museum, vol. 32, Hong Kong, 1996, pp. 64-5, no. 56).
known either as mantou kilns (bread bun kilns) or horse-shoe shaped kilns. The exterior of the Beijing basin is very similarly carved with overlapping
These kilns were typical of north China in the Song dynasty and were cross- petals, while the interior is incised and carved with two smaller fsh amongst
draught kilns capable of achieving the high temperatures needed to fre the waves, rather than the larger fsh amongst aquatic plants seem on the
Ding clay successfully. This white-fring clay had a high alumina content, current basin. A very similar incised and carved depiction of a fsh amongst
which necessitated a high fring temperature in the region of 1300oC. aquatic plants to that on the interior of the current bowl can be seen on a
The disadvantage of the mantou kilns was that they had a relatively small large Ding ware basin (D: 28.1 cm) in the collection of the National Palace
fring chamber, while the refned Ding white wares needed to be protected Museum, Taipei (illustrated in Catalogue of the Special Exhibition of Ting
from kiln debris by being placed in saggars (fre clay boxes), which took up Ware White Porcelain, Taipei, 1987, no. 31). The exterior walls of this basin are
additional room within the kiln. In order to allow the fring of more than one undecorated. Another large Ding ware basin (D: 31.2 cm) in the collection of
vessel within a single saggar, without leaving a disfguring mark on either the National Palace Museum has overlapping petals on the exterior walls, but
vessel, stepped setters and ‘L’-shaped ring setters were developed. The Ding the interior has incised and carved lotus scrolls (illustrated ibid., no. 32).
wares could then be fred using the fushao upside-down method, in which
the mouth rim of the vessel was wiped clean of glaze and it was fred upside- Overlapping petals on the exterior of bowls and dishes were used to decorate
down, standing on its mouth rim. Thus, pieces of ascending size could be Tang dynasty metal wares, and thereafter appear on some 10th century Five
fred on a stepped setter, while dishes of the same size could be fred in the Dynasties ceramic bowls and dishes from the Yue kilns, such as the bowl
‘L’-shaped ring setters. and stand discovered in 1956 at a temple pagoda in Suzhou (illustrated in
Zhongguo wenwu jinghua daquan – Taoci juan, Taipei, 1993, p. 251, no. 264).
To fre a basin of this size upside-down would, however, have been real test of This style of decoration gained in popularity in the Song dynasty appearing
the skill of both the potter and of the kiln master, since warping and cracking on a variety of ceramic vessels especially those from the Ding and Longquan
during fring would have been signifcant risks. Given these attendant risks, kilns. However, at the Ding kilns decoration on the exterior walls of open-
the small size of the fring chamber, and the high cost of fuel for fring, the wares was relatively rare and the carved overlapping petal decoration was
creation of a vessel of the size of the current basin would have been a costly more frequently seen on vertical forms.
undertaking and one which would almost certainly have been prompted by a
specifc order, and, nor surprisingly, such vessels are very rare. The decoration on fne Ding wares, where the designs are incised or carved
into white body material under an almost colourless, transparent glaze of
A very slightly smaller Ding basin (D: 29.6 cm), also fred on its mouth rim, slightly ivory tone, is inevitably subtle. In the case of the overlapping petals on
with carved overlapping petals on the exterior and an incised and carved the exterior, each has been given a distinctly raised central vein for emphasis.
fsh in waves amongst aquatic plants on the interior is in the collection of Sir However, the decoration on the interior can only properly be appreciated
Percival David and was exhibited in Arte Cinese, Venice, 1954, No. 53 (also by those fortunate enough to examine it through close inspection. On the
illustrated in Illustrated Catalogue of Ting and Allied Wares, London, 1980, no. current basin the incised and carved design of fsh is particularly skilfully
22, PDF 154). The Percival David basin has retained the narrow copper alloy executed. The fsh has a dynamic quality which suggests energetic
band around its mouth, with which all fne quality Ding vessels with unglazed movement through the water. The water itself is indicated by undulating
mouth rims would have been ftted in order to cover the unfred surface groups of fne parallel incisions, while the aquatic plants have been depicted
and provide a colour contrast to the ivory glaze. A similar basin (D: 31.5 cm), in such a way as to accentuate the rippling of the water.
formerly in the collection of George Eumorfopoulos, is illustrated by R.L.
Hobson in The Eumorfopoulos Collection, vol. II, 1926, pl. XXVII, No. C 133. This is a rare and exceptionally fne vessel, which typifes the subtle
Another from the collection of the British Museum is illustrated in Oriental refnement of the Song period, and would have been made for a discerning,
Ceramics, The World’s Great Collections, vol. 5, The British Museum, Tokyo, and wealthy, patron.
1981, no. 56, while a further similar basin (D: 33 cm) was sold by Sotheby’s
Hong Kong, October 1995, lot 343.

163