Lot 540. A rare large Jun deep bowl, Northern Song-Jin dynasty (960-1234); 7 ½ in. (19 cm.) diam. Estimate USD 30,000 - USD 50,000. Price realised USD 175,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2018

The bowl is formed with deep rounded sides rising from the short foot ring to the slightly incurved rim, and is covered inside and out with a glaze of milky, sky-blue tone thinning to mushroom at the rim, except for the foot and a circular section on the bottom of the interior which are burnt orange in the firing, Japanese wood box and lacquered cover. 

Literature: Idemitsu Museum of Art, Sodai no Toji (The Ceramics of the Song Dynasty), Tokyo, 1979, no. 67.

Exhibited: Idemitsu Museum of Art, Sodai no Toji (The Ceramics of the Song Dynasty), Tokyo, October to November 1979.

Note: The present bowl is very rare for its large size and bold form with unusually deep sides. A bowl of similar proportions is illustrated by S. Valenstein, A Handbook of Chinese Ceramics, New York, 1975, p. 100, no. 94; and another of slightly smaller size (17.9 cm. diam.) is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - 32 - Porcelain of the Song Dynasty (I), Hong Kong, 1996, p. 245, no. 221. Another bowl of similar size but with shorter sides, in the collection of the Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, now on loan to the British Museum, is illustrated by Stacey Pierson in Song Ceramics: Objects of Admiration, London, 2003, pp. 24-25, pl. 3.

Jun ware bowl, Northern Song dynasty, about AD 960–1127, Yuxian, Henan province. Stoneware with thick opalescent blue glaze; 19,4 cm diam, Sir Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, PDF.41. © 2017 Trustees of the British Museum

The unglazed circle on the interior of the present bowl suggests that a small piece was probably fired inside it. Compare another deep Jun bowl with five spur marks on the interior, illustrated by R. Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, Volume One, London, 1994, pp. 220-221, no. 383.

Christie's. The Classic Age of Chinese Ceramics - The Linyushanren Collection, Part III, 22 March 2018, New York