Incense burner, glazed stoneware, Yaozhou ware, China, Northern Song dynasty, 1000-1127. Height: 9 cm, Diameter: 8.6 cm. C.358-1921. Victoria & Albert Museum. © V&A Images

Upper section of incense burner, Yaozhou ware. With openwork sides and a dragon in high relief.

The incense burner in this image is an example of Yaozhou wares typical of the Northern Song dynasty (960-1127). While the wares produced at the Yaozhou kiln complex enjoyed popularity from the end of the Tang dynasty (618-906) through to the beginning of the Yuan dynasty (1279-1368), this incense burner exhibits the deep olive green glaze common to the Yaozhou wares of the Northern Song period.

Yaozhou wares were often selected as ‘official wares’, to be used at court, but this object is unlikely to have been of high enough quality to be used in this capacity. It is significant, however, for its complexity of form comprising of carved openwork walls above the figure of a dragon circling the base. The whole incense burner would have been manufactured in sections and this piece would have slotted in with the others to form a full object.

Bibliographic References: Kerr, Rose. Song Dynasty Ceramics. London: V&A Publications, 2004. p. 52, no. 48.