Lot 702. A small carved Yaozhou dish, Northern Song dynasty, 11th-12th century; 5 in. (12.8 cm.) diam. Estimate USD 10,000 - USD 15,000. Price realised USD 52,500. © Christie's Image Ltd 2016

The dish is deftly carved and combed in the center of the interior with a bold design of turbulent waves. It is covered overall with an olive-green glaze suffused with fine crackles stopping irregularly in a circle around the unglazed, recessed center of the base, exposing the biscuit body, which is inscribed in ink with an indecipherable character, Japanese wood box.

Provenance: Sen Shu Tey, Tokyo.

Literature: Sen Shu Tey, The Collection of Chinese Art - Special Exhibition ‘Run Through 10 Years’, Tokyo, 2006, p. 57, no. 68.

Exhibited: Sen Shu Tey, Tokyo, The Collection of Chinese Art - Special Exhibition ‘Run Through 10 Years’, 2006. 

Notes: Located at Huangpuzhen, Tongchuanxian, Shaanxi province, the Yaozhou kilns began production of a wide range of wares during the Tang dynasty. The kilns were well placed to use water transportation to the Northern Song capital at Kaifeng, and it is recorded that Yaozhou wares were presented as tribute to the Northern Song court. Both the official Song history and other literary sources mention such tribute gifts. For instance, the official gazetteer during the Yuanfeng era (1078-1085), Yuanfeng jiuyu zhi, mentions fifty sets of tribute ceramics sent to the court from Yaozhou. 

A Yaozhou celadon dish carved with a similar wave design is illustrated by R. Krahl in Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, vol. 1, London, 1994, p. 233, no. 420, and another similar dish is illustrated in The Masterpieces of Yaozhou Ware, Tokyo, 1997, p. 36, no. 41. 

Christie's. The Classic Age of Chinese Ceramics: The Linyushanren Collection, Part II, 15 September 2016, New York, Rockefeller Plaza