13. A Dingyao carved lotus-pattern bowl

The bowl is of large open form with gently rounded sides slightly flared towards the rim. The interior is deftly incised in characteristic double-line technique with flowering lotus, with a large loose-petalled bloom to one side of the bowl, borne on a long scrolling stem with one furled lotus leaf and several other stylized leaves and petals. The centre of the bowl is marked by an impressed ring. A clear glaze of light ivory tone covers the bowl inside and out, leaving the rim unglazed. The glaze pools in the decoration and in the central ring to a deeper colour, and on the exterior it collects in places into “tear-drop” streaks. The neatly-made footrim encircles a very slightly countersunk base, also applied with a clear glaze.

Provenance:
Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 'A Private Japanese Collection of Early Ceramics', 24-25th November 2014, lot 1008
Priestley & Ferraro, 'Song Ceramics & Works of Art', November 2015, no.6

The carved lotus spray is a design very often found on Northern Song Dingyao bowls. Nevertheless, few bowls bearing it are exactly alike. Variations are found in the relative size of the designs, whether or not the central well was incorporated into the main scheme, and the size and shape of the bowl itself. For a very similar bowl from the      J. Hellner collection, see Jan Wirgin, Sung Ceramic Designs,
pl. 59:b, where he notes the absence of combed decoration on this type.  A second, in the China National Museum, is illustrated in Ding Kiln of China, p. 347 and 412.
 
Dishes of this type are well represented in museum
collections around the world, but few have been recovered in an archaeological context. For a slightly larger dish of similar shape and design unearthed in Zhuanglang county, Gansu, dated to the Song dynasty, and now in the Zhuanglang Museum, see Complete Collection of Ceramic Art Unearthed in China, vol. 16, no. 16.

定窯刻蓮花紋花口盌

Dimensions: Diameter: 21.8 cm, 8 ½ inches

Date: Late Northern Song dynasty (960-1127)