Vase, carved and glazed stoneware, Yaozhou ware, Shaanxi, China, Northern Song dynasty (1000-1127). Height: 24.0 cm, Diameter: 12.0 cm. Museum no. C.810-1936? Purchased with the assistance of The Art Fund, the Vallentin Bequest, Sir Percival David and the Universities China Committee [September 2009] © V&A Images

This vase was made in Yaozhou, north of the divide separating northern and southern China. It has a grey stoneware body, covered with an olive-green glaze. Modern scholars in the West traditionally refer to this type as celadon, the Chinese equivalent for this term being simply 'greenware'.

The first greenwares were made in southern China. Eventually the technology spread to the north and for a brief period in the eleventh century the Yaozhou products outshone their southern competitors, due partly to the fact that the capital city, Kaifeng, was situated much closer to the northern kilns. The geographical proximity of the Yaozhou and Ding kilns (see p.36) led to these two wares sharing many stylistic features. The decoration on Yaozhou ware, however, tends to be deeply carved, rather than incised or moulded. The olive-green glaze pools in the carved areas, intensifying in colour and making the design - in this case a peony - much more apparent.

The Yaozhou kiln site was excavated by the Chinese authorities in the twentieth century, but there is currently no evidence that the wares were exported in the Song dynasty. China's neighbour Korea produced a similar green-glazed stoneware in the twelfth century, but Yaozhou ware is not thought to have been its source of inspiration.

Green-glazed stonewares, called ‘celadons’ in Europe, were first made in southern China. Eventually the technology spread to northern China, and for a brief period after 1000 the products of the Yaozhou kilns in the north outshone their southern competitors. The decoration was deeply carved. This allowed the glaze to pool in the recesses, intensifying the colour and making the design more legible.

Bibliographic References: Kerr, Rose. Song Dynasty Ceramics. London: V&A Publications, 2004. p. 52, no. 47.
Liefkes, Reino and Hilary Young (eds.) Masterpieces of World Ceramics in the Victoria and Albert Museum. London: V&A Publishing, 2008, pp. 38-39.

Exhibition: International Exhibition of Chinese Art (Royal Academy of Arts 01/01/1935-31/12/1936)