Page 87 - Chinese Ceramics the Linyushanren Collection Part 1 , Christie's
P. 87
fig. 1 A Ge ware foliate dish, Song Dynasty, fig. 2 A Guan ware foliate dish, Southern Song Dynasty, fig. 3 A Guan ware foliate dish, Southern Song
Collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei Collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei Dynasty, Percival David Foundation of Chinese
Art © The Trustees of the British Museum
of Ge ware with two ears’ in Complete Collection of Works by the antiquarian, Emperor Huizong. The inscription tells us that it was
Qing Emperor Gaozong, vol. 28, section V. Another inscription on applied to the dish in the Qianlong bingshen year (equivalent to
a dish in the collection of Sir Percival David provides a suggestion AD 1776).
of a literary work to which the Qianlong Emperor traced the name
Ge ware. The inscription on this dish (inventory PDF 14), is dated A number of Guan ware dishes of this form, which have been
to the cyclical yiwei 乙未 year [AD 1775] and can be found under fired on spurs, have also been preserved in the National Palace
the title ‘On a Dish of Ge ware’ in Complete Collection of Works Museum, Taipei. These have been illustrated in the Catalogue
by the Qing Emperor Gaozong, vol. 26, section 1V. Part of the of the Special Exhibition of Sung Dynasty Kuan Ware, National
inscription reads: ‘Had we not read the essays from the Spring Palace Museum, Taipei, 1989, nos. 118-24 (fig. 2). Further
Wind Hall [Chunfengtang suibi by Lu Shen AD 1477-1544], how examples of similar form, but which have been fired standing on
could we know whence Ge ware got its name.’ ( 春風堂不觀随筆 their foot rims, are illustrated in the same volume, nos. 125-31.
那識哥窑所得名 ). The Percival David Foundation, London, also has in its collection
both Ge and Guan ware dishes of this form, fired on spurs. These
The Qianlong Emperor’s admiration for these crackled-glaze are discussed by Rosemary Scott in ‘Guan or Ge Ware? A re-
vessels can also be seen from the fact that dishes similar to examination of some pieces in the Percival David Foundation,’
the current example appear in several informal portraits of the Oriental Art, vol. XXXIX, no. 2, 1993, pp. 19-20. The David
emperor. One such portrait is the famous Anonymous painting Foundation dish closest in potting and glaze colour to the current
entitled ‘One or Two?’, of which there are three versions in piece is illustrated in pl. 14 (fig. 3). This David Foundation Guan
the Palace Museum, Beijing. One of these is illustrated in the ware dish bears a Qianlong inscription dated AD 1776 - the same
catalogue of the exhibition The Qianlong Emperor - Treasures date as the inscription on the National Palace Museum Ge ware
from the Forbidden City, National Museums of Scotland, dish mentioned above. Both the London and Taipei collections
Edinburgh, 2002, p. 112, no. 59. The Qianlong emperor is shown include a number of pieces which have had Qianlong poetic
seated on a day-bed in front of a screen on which is hung a inscriptions incised into their base glazes.
portrait of himself, and surrounded by precious objects from his
famous collection of antiques. One of these is a small crackled Examination of these Qianlong inscriptions highlights the
dish similar to the current piece. subject on which there has been active debate among scholars
and connoisseurs - the difficulty of determining whether a
The great value placed upon Song crackled dishes like the particular piece should be described as Guan ware or Ge ware.
current example can also be seen in their preservation in the Certainly to judge from the Qianlong emperor’s inscriptions, he
Palace Museum collections. The current dish is very similar was inconsistent in his attributions. Distinguishing between Ge
in shape and colour to a slightly smaller Ge ware dish in the and Guan ware is not greatly aided by the historical texts, which
National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Porcelain of the merely say that they looked similar to one another. A symposium
National Palace Museum - Ko Ware of the Sung Dynasty, Book held by the Shanghai Museum in October 1992 brought together
II, Hong Kong, 1962, no 52 (fig. 1). The Taipei dish has, however, all the leading Song ceramic scholars from China and elsewhere
been fired on its foot rim, rather than on spurs. Another Ge ware to discuss Ge ware and the ways to distinguish it from Guan
dish in the National Palace Museum, illustrated in the same ware. The most widely recognized distinguishing features of Ge
publication, no. 47, shares similar form with the current piece, but ware were felt by these scholars to be that its glaze has the so-
is larger and heavier with some discoloration to the glaze. This called jinsi tiexian ‘golden thread and iron wire’ crackle and a
Taipei dish, however, bears an inscription applied on the orders of softly opaque glaze. The debate regarding the exact period of
the Qianlong emperor crediting the dish with having been made production and kiln site for Ge ware continues, but this elegant
in the famous Xuanhe reign period (AD 1119-25) of the Song dish has all the qualities we would expect of a vessel intended for
dynasty - under the auspices of the great Imperial collector and imperial appreciation.
85 The Linyushanren Collection, Part I
