A DINGYAO MOULDED 'MYTHICAL BEAST' DISH

Song Dynasty

Footnotes

宋 定窯白釉模印鑲銅口折腹盤

Provenance: James Baird, London
Bluett & Sons Ltd., London (label)
Dr Emil Hultmark (1872-1943), Stockholm, and thence by descent

Published and Exhibited: Bluett & Sons Ltd., The James Baird Collection of early Chinese pottery and porcelain, London, 1926, no.90

來源： James Baird，倫敦
倫敦古董商Bluett & Sons Ltd.（據標籤）
Emil Hultmark博士(1872-1943)，斯德哥爾摩，並由後人保存迄今

展覽著錄： Bluett & Sons Ltd.，《The James Baird Collection of early Chinese pottery and porcelain》，倫敦，1926年，編號90

James Baird worked in the foreign office and lent pieces to the Victoria and Albert museum and was an active client of Bluett's between 1914 and 1937.

Emil Hultmark was an art historian, collector, donor and patron of the arts. He combined important work as an art historian not only with the creation of one of the largest and most remarkable private art collections in Sweden, but also with the construction of an archive of Swedish artists and art craftsmen unparalleled in its extent, together with a library containing almost all that has been written about Swedish art. He loaned to the seminal International Exhibition of Chinese Art, Royal Academy, London, 1935-1936, no less than five objects, Catalogue nos.140, 1872, 1949, 2983 and 2985.

During the Tang dynasty, white ceramics from the Xing kilns was esteemed as the finest of its time. By the Song dynasty, Ding kiln ceramics had surpassed Xing ware in prominence. This ascendancy can be attributed to two key factors. First, Ding ceramic's warm white tone, subtly tinged with a yellowish hue and paired with a smooth, lustrous glaze, exuded a refined and tranquil aesthetic. Second, its use of more decorative techniques—such as impressed designs, incised patterns, and carved motifs—ushered white ceramics into a new era of artistic sophistication. A hallmark of Ding kiln ceramics was its production using the inverted firing method, in which vessels were fired upside down. This process left the rim unglazed, revealing the porcelain body and creating the characteristic 'bare rim' (mangkou 芒口). While this technique enhanced production efficiency and reduced costs, the exposed rims were often considered a visual imperfection. To address this, artisans frequently mounted the rims with metals such as gold, silver, or copper, as exemplified by the present lot, enhancing both functionality and aesthetic appeal.

The present lot, with curved concave sides, is quite rare. See a Dingyao dish of similar shape, Song dynasty, in the Sir Percival David collection at the British Museum, London (acc.no.PDF.195).

See also a related Ding 'lotus' dish of similar shape but slightly larger, Northern Song/Jin dynasty, which was sold at Bonhams New York, 16 September 2024, lot 37.