Guan-type dish with copper rim. Stoneware with guan-type crackled glaze with copper rim. Guan-type ware. South China 中國南部. Ming dynasty, about AD 1400–1500. On loan from Sir Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art. PDF 55 © Trustees of the British Museum

Height: 30 mm. Diameter: 127 mm. Diameter: 76 mm (base). Guan-type stoneware dish with shallow, sloping sides and everted, six-lobed rim. The dish has a metal bound mouthrim, and thick, opaque pale grey glaze with wide crackle stained black and a close crackle stained golden brown. There are five round spur marks on the base, which is glazed.

This attractive dish is covered with a crackled celadon glaze and its rim is bound with copper. Historical accounts suggest that dressing the rim with metal actually enhanced the status of the clay vessel.

Bibliographic reference: 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