A DINGYAO BOTTLE VASE NORTHERN SONG – JIN DYNASTY

the pear-shaped body rising from a splayed foot to a tall cylindrical neck and everted rim, covered overall in a creamy-ivory glaze
30.5 cm, 12 in.

Provenance:
Dingyao vessels, of any upright form, were extremely rarely produced by the Ding white ware kilns around Baoding city in Hebei province, which had specialised in the production of round, open shapes. Upright shapes, especially those with a tall slender neck as seen on the present vase, would have represented a much greater challenge and required meticulous precision in all stages of its production.

Compare two similar vases sold at auction, the first formerly in the Idemitsu Museum of Art, published in Chinese Ceramics in the Idemitsu Collection, Tokyo, 1987, col. pl. 84, and later sold in our London rooms, 6th July 1971, lot 64, and again at Christie's Tokyo, 17th February 1980, lot 741; and the second with a comparatively less everted rim, sold in our London rooms, 14th May 2008, lot 267 and again in Christie’s Hong Kong, 26th November 2014, lot 3222.

See also a shorter Jin dynasty vase with a wider flared rim, formerly from the collection of George Eumorfopoulous and now in the British Museum, reg. no. 1936,1012.26; and a pear-shaped bottle with flared rim included in the exhibition Song Ceramics from the Kwan Collection, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1994, cat. no. 35, which appears to be of similar type and is attributed to the Jiexiu kilns of Shanxi province.