12th C. Chinese Song Dynasty Jun Ware Pottery Dish

East Asia, China, Song Dynasty, ca. 1127 to 1279 CE. A stunning ceramic dish presenting a ring-form foot, a shallow basin, and a flared rim, all enveloped in a lustrous glaze of gorgeous hues of violet, lavender, periwinkle, and light blue. The colors swirl dreamily across the vessel, beautifully complementing its elegant form. The celadon gains its blue color from the use of straw ash; this was created in the Jun kilns of Yuzhou City. Varying the temperature in kilns, a technique known as Yacoubian, changes the color greatly. The most prized examples, like this one, have crimson and purple splashes. The unglazed foot gives the bowl its date; during the Song Dynasty, before this was made, the foot would also have been glazed. Archaeological excavations in the 1950s and 1960s in Yuzhou City revealed over a hundred kilns, all involved in the production of these beautiful pieces. Size: 13.875" in diameter x 2.375" H (35.2 cm x 6 cm)

Bowls like this were some of China's most important exports during the Song period and were widely imitated in Korea and Japan. The body was thrown on a potter's wheel and the color of the glaze that covers all but its foot comes from iron oxides fired in a reducing atmosphere. These objects were fired in "dragon kilns," long brick tunnels that rose up a slope, to provide slow and even heating. Archaeologists estimate that up to 25,000 vessels would be made at once in the largest of these kilns! The market for bowls like these were the scholar-gentleman class, sometimes known as the literati; these were made for everyday use, religious ceremonies (placing offerings on altars, for example), and sometimes were buried with their owners. Their beauty spawned legends; for example, the few that made their way to Europe were sometimes turned into goblets with the aid of metal components because of a belief that their glaze would change color in the presence of poison.

Provenance: private Morrison, Colorado, USA collection, acquired 2011;ex- private New England estate, USA, before 2001

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#166045
Condition Report: Miniscule nick to rim and small abrasion to base. Otherwise, intact and excellent.