Page 122 - J.J. Lally Chinese Art CHRISTIE'S March 23 2023 NYC

This superb bowl is a classic example of the Song-dynasty Ding
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Other comparable Ding bowls with carved lotus design include a
ware bowls which have been greatly admired by literati and further example in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The
officials since their initial manufacture. In the poem Shiyuan Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - 32 - Porcelain
jiancha (Tea Brewing in the Examination Hall), the esteemed of the Song Dynasty (I), Hong Kong, 1996, p. 60, no. 52, from the
Song-dynasty literatus Su Shi recalls an event where tea turned Qing court collection; in the National Palace Museum, Taipei,
red against a caved Ding white-glazed bowl, resembling carved illustrated in Gugong songci tulu (Illustrated Catalogue of Sung
red jade. This poem reveals both that Ding bowls were used for Dynasty Porcelain in the National Palace Museum), Ting Ware and
tea drinking, and more importantly, that they were favored by the Ting-Type Ware, Taipei, 1973, no.18; in the British Museum from
literati at the time. Interestingly, in 1093, two decades after Su the Oppenheim Collection, illustrated by J. Rawson in The World’s
Shi wrote the poem, he was appointed Governor of Dingzhou, Great Collections: Oriental Ceramics, Vol. 5, The British Museum,
the province where the Ding kilns were located. Su Shi’s praise London, Tokyo, 1981, col. pl. 20; in the Museum of Far Eastern
solidified the status of Ding porcelains amongst subsequent Antiquities, illustrated by J. Wirgin, ‘Sung Ceramics Designs’,
connoisseurs, such as the Jin-dynasty scholar Liu Qi (1203–1259), B.M.F.E.A. No. 42, Stockholm, 1970, pl. 60; and the example
who wrote in a poem Dingzhou huaciou, yanse tianxia bai (decorated illustrated by D. Leidy in Treasures of Asian Art – The Asia Society’s
porcelain bowls from Dingzhou have the best white color Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection, New York, 1994, no.
under Heaven). 144, p. 154; in the Newark Museum from the Jaehne Collection,
illustrated by Reynolds and Pei, Chinese Art from the Newark
The current bowl is particularly distinguished for its elegant form, Museum, China Institute, New York, 1980, no. 13, p. 31; and in
fluid carving and resplendent glaze. A hexafoil bowl of similar the Idemitsu Museum, illustrated in Chinese Ceramics in the Idemitsu
form and size, but with lotus carved in a slightly different style, in Collection, Tokyo, 1987, no. 413.
the Beijing Palace Museum Collection, is illustrated in Zhongguo
taoci quanji – Dingyao, Shanghai, 1981, pl. 90. See, also, the Ding
hexafoil bowl sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 26 November 2018,
lot 8005.
(base)
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