Lot 3124. A Ding carved ‘lotus’ dish, Northern Song dynasty (960-1127), 6 3/4 in. (16.2 cm.), diam., box. Estimate HKD 1,300,000 - HKD 2,600,000 (USD 167,863 - USD 335,726) © Christie's Images Ltd 2017
The shallow dish is delicately potted with angled flaring sides rising from the foot ring to the circular rim, and fluidly carved on the interior with a lotus flowerhead on a stem of scrolling leaves at the centre. All is covered in a translucent ivory-tinted glaze. The rim bound in copper.
Property from the Dexinshuwu Collection
Note: Similar Ding dishes include one in the Meiyintang Collection and illustrated by Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, London, 1994, vol. 1, p. 205, no. 362, and another illustrated in A Dealer’s Hand: The Chinese Art World through the Eyes of Giuseppe Eskenazi, London, 2012, p. 284, no. 273; and two examples with carved lotus spray meandering towards the left formerly in the Collections of Edward T. Chow and Linyushanren, sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 2 December 2015, lot 2816, and Christie’s New York, 15 September 2016, lot 705.
A rare and finely carved Ding 'lotus' dish, Northern Song dynasty, 11th-12th century, from the Linyushanren Collection, 6 1/2 in. (16.5 cm.). Price realised HKD 3,400,000 (USD 440,762) at Christie’s Hong Kong, 2 December 2015, lot 2816. © Christie's Images Ltd 2016
A rare and finely carved Ding 'lotus' dish, Northern Song dynasty, 11th-12th century, from the Linyushanren Collection, 6 ½ in. (16.5 cm.) diam. Price realised USD 317,000 at Christie’s New York, 15 September 2016, lot 705. © Christie's Images Ltd 2016
Compare, also, a related Ding dish of slightly later date carved with a peony spray on the interior and peony scroll on the exterior, illustrated by Tsai Meifen, Decorated Porcelains of Dingzhou: White Ding Wares from the Collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 2014, pp. 86-87, no. II-41.
It is interesting to note that excavations at the Silongkou Yue kiln site have revealed dishes of similar form and design from the Southern Song stratum (see Silongkou yueyao zhi (Silongkou Yue Ware Kiln Site), Beijing, 2002, pp. 108-113). In order to assert his legitimacy to the throne, the Southern Song Emperor Gaozong made huge efforts to re-establish the Northern Song imperial rites and court life after fleeing to Hangzhou. According to the Southern Song official book, Zhongxing lishu (Book of Rites in the Age of Revival), in the 1st and 4th year of the Shaoxing reign (1131 and 1134), the Southern Song court ordered Yuezhou and Shaoxingfu Yuyaoxian to produce ceramic ritual vessels for the imperial sacrificial hall. Gaozong not only ordered local Yue kilns to make ritual vessels but also to produce wares for daily use in the Northern Song imperial style. A shard of a Southern Song Yue ware dish of very similar form and design bearing a yuchu (Imperial Kitchen) mark, found at Hangzhou, is illustrated by Jin Zhiwei, ‘Yuchu zikuan yueci zaitan’ (Study of Yue Wares Bearing Yuchu Marks), Palace Museum Journal, 2001, no. 1, pl. 8.
Christie's. The Imperial Sale / Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 31 May 2017, Convention Hall
