White stoneware bowl  China, Tang dynasty, 8th or 9th century

A white stoneware shallow bowl, the thickly potted, gently rounded sides rising from a neatly cut, disc-like foot and terminating in a turned-over rim. The interior and exterior of the bowl are covered in a transparent glaze, leaving just the foot unglazed, exposing the fine white clay underneath. Diameter: 5 3/4 inches, 14.6 cm Height: 13/4 inches, 4.5 cm. Price on application

Notes: The broad, flat foot on this type of bowl is sometimes referred to as bi-shaped, as it resembles the jade ring of that name. This sophisticated, pure white stoneware bowl was possibly made at the highly regarded Xing kiln, located in Neiqiu, in the northern province of Hebei, the products of which, according to Watson, seem “…to have been favoured for wine”.1 A closely related bowl in the Baur collection in Geneva is described as Xing ware by Ayers, who notes that “Very similar bowls were made at both the Xingyao and Dingyao kilns”.2 Other similar examples are in the Yuegutang collection in Berlin3 and in the Kempe collection.4

1 Watson, W. Tang and Liao Ceramics, Thames and Hudson, 1984, page 36
2 Ayers, J. Chinese Ceramics in the Baur Collection, Vol. I, Geneva, 1999, no. 5[A9], p. 41
3 Krahl, R. Yuegutang – A Collection of Chinese Ceramics in Berlin, Berlin 2000, no. 91, p. 114
4 Gyllensvärd, B. Chinese Ceramics in the Carl Kempe Collection, Stockholm 1964 no. 331, p.111