Lot 2864. A 'Yaozhou' persimmon-glazed gilt-decorated conical bowl, Northern Song dynasty (960-1127). Estimate 150,000 — 200,000 HKD (45,171 - 56,463 EUR). Lot sold 400,000 HKD (45,171 EUR). Photo Sotheby's 2016. 

of conical form, the slightly rounded sides supported on a short foot, covered overall save for the unglazed buff footring with a rich and opaque persimmon-coloured glaze draining to dark brown along the rim and foot, the interior intricately decorated in gold, possibly later, with a medallion enclosing a central floret, surrounded by three large peony blooms and leafy scrolls, the base incised with the guan character; 18.8 cm, 7 3/8  in.

Provenance: Christie's New York, 26th March 2003, lot 211.

Note: Persimmon-glazed wares were in the Song dynasty (960-1279) produced at several kilns in North China; the most famous being those of the Ding and Yaozhou kilns in Hebei and Shaanxi provinces, respectively. The distinctive glaze was admired not only at the time of production. Cao Zhao in his Gegu yaolun [The essential criteria of antiquities] of 1388 comments that it was more expensive than the famous 'Ding' white ware. Perhaps the complexities involved in creating the persimmon glaze contributed to its relative rarity and value, as achieving the colour involved an initial application of a thin bluish-black glaze, followed by another very thin coating of iron oxide.

Making the present bowl even rarer is the mark 'guan' (official). Such guan marks, incised before firing through the glaze on the base of the vessel, are found on a small number of white wares, primarily from the Ding kilns, of the 10th and 11th centuries. It is extremely rare to find such a guan mark on a 'Yaozhou' piece, and the current bowl is perhaps the only persimmon-glazed vessel bearing a guan mark known to date. It is debatable on how exactly to interpret the meaning and nature of the guan mark and the associated objects and kilns, see for example Quan Kuishan, 'The Phantom Official Kiln:Guan and Xinguan Marks on Tang and Song Porcelain', in Li Baoping, Bruce Doar and Susan Dewar eds., Porcelain and Society, China Archaeology and Art Digest, vol. 3, no. 4, June 2000, pp. 95-106. There is however no doubt that vessels with the guan mark had been made for the court and government and enjoyed official status. For a green-ware bowl with the guanmark, unearthed from the Yaozhou kiln site, see Masterpieces of Yaozhou Ware, The Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka, 1997, cat. no. 135.  

The gold decoration on this bowl is also very unusual. Based on the style of the design, it was perhaps applied later, during the Ming dynasty or thereafter. This enhancement of the piece copies the practice of applying gold and silver to certain special Song dynasty bowls from the Ding and other kilns. Very few ceramics survive which have gold and/or silver decoration applied to their glazes. At the Tokyo National Museum are two persimmon-glazed 'Ding' bowls with this type of on-glaze decoration, illustrated in the exhibition catalogue Song Ceramics, The Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka, Tokyo, 1999, cat. nos. 35 and 36, the latter (no. 36), like the present bowl, with a design of peonies within a border, but in silver as well as gold.

A 'Yaozhou' ware persimmon-glazed bowl of similar form but with foliate rim is illustrated in Robert D. Mowry, Hare's Fur, Tortoiseshell, and Partridge Feathers. Chinese Brown and Black-Glazed Ceramics, 400-1400, Cambridge, Mass., 1996, no. 20. Compare also a 'Yaozhou' persimmon-glazed bowl sold in our New York rooms, 30th March 2006, lot 39, and two bowls sold in our London rooms, one 12th November 2003, lot 43, and illustrated in Song Ceramics from the Kwan Collection, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1994, cat. no. 86, the other 9th June 1992, lot 123.