Bowl. Stoneware with crackled glaze known as 'gold thread and iron wire'. Yuan dynasty (1271-1368). Guan kilns, south China. Height: 16.3 cm, Diameter: 17.8 cm. 717-1883. © V&A Images.

To create the crackled effect the potter manipulated the glaze formula and firing process. Consumers and collectors saw the crackles as aesthetically attractive.

The elegantly shaped stoneware bowl with a crackled greyish glaze was one of the V&A's early purchases of Chinese art. It was acquired through the good offices of Dr Stephen Wootton Bushell (1844-1908). Bushell was a physician by profession, but his 30-year- long residence in Beijing had made him a self-taught expert. He made several acquisitions on behalf of the V&A and in 1898 was commissioned by the Board of Education to write a comprehensive book on Chinese art, which has been reprinted several times.

The ceramics Bushell selected on behalf of the Museum included blue-and-white and colour-enamelled wares which were fashionable in the late 19th century. But he did not overlook the more subtle monochromes which were, a few decades later, much appreciated by collectors and connoisseurs.

Bibliographic References: Kerr, Rose. Song dynasty ceramics. London:V&A Publications, 2004, plate 86.