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 319 © Trustees of the British Museum

Height: 63 mm. Diameter: 191 mm. Diameter: 115 mm (base). Jun stoneware flower-pot-stand with six bracket-lobes and three cloud-shaped feet. The flower-pot-stand has a pale grey body and blue glaze on the interior, purple glaze on the rim and the exterior, and olive brown glaze on the base. There is a mark and fifteen uneven spur marks on the base.

This flower pot stand has six bracket-lobes and three cloud-shaped feet. Its base has a ring of fifteen uneven spur marks and the Chinese character十 shi, meaning ten 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.

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