Lobed flower pot stand. Stoneware body covered in blue and purple glazes with olive-green on base. Numbered or Official Jun ware 官鈞窯. Juntai, Yuxian, Henan province 河南省, 禹縣, 鈞台. Ming dynasty, about AD 1368–1435. On loan from Sir Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art. PDF 33 © Trustees of the British Museum

Height: 72 mm. Diameter: 212 mm. Diameter: 125 mm (base). Official Jun stoneware flower pot stand with rounded, twelve-lobed sides, flattened six-lobed rim with narrow raised band at edge, lobed base, and three cloud-shaped feet. The stand has opalescent blue coloured purple on the exterior with copper pigment. The glaze has split in several places on the interior of the bowl leaving 'earthworm marks'. There is an inscription, and twenty spur marks, on the base, which is glazed.

This flower pot stand has six lobed sides and cloud-shaped feet. Its base has a ring of uneven spur marks and the Chinese character 七 meaning seven incised in the base before firing. It has been suggested that the numbers refer to sizes, with one the largest and ten the smallest size, which would help to match flower pots and stands. Unlike earlier Jun wares, which are often highlighted with contrasting purple splashes, these later wares feature blue or purple opalescent glazes without splashes of contrasting colours. Furthermore in contrast to earlier Jun wares, these numbered flower vessels are shaped by moulding. There are other inscriptions which have been translated 'Hall of Mental Cultivation' and 'For use in the Chamber of Accompanying Peace'.

Bibliographic reference: Medley, Margaret, Volume 7: Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, 7 of 12, Tokyo, Kodansha ltd, 1975

Hobson, Robert L, A Catalogue of Chinese Pottery and Porcelain in the Collection of Sir Percival David Bt., F.S.A., London, The Stourton Press, 1934

Yorke Hardy, Sheila, Tung, Ju, Kuan, Chun, Kuang-tung & Glazed I-hsing Wares in the Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, London, University of London, Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, School of Oriental and African Studies, 1953

Pierson, Stacey, Illustrated catalogue of Ru, Guan, Jun, Guangdong and Yixing wares in the Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, London, University of London, Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, School of Oriental and African Studies, 1999