Lot 2976. A Ding persimmon-glazed moulded bowl, Jin dynasty (960-1234); 6 1/2 in. (16.5 cm.) diam. Estimate HKD 600,000 - HKD 800,000. Price realised HKD 750,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2018.

The bowl is moulded on the interior with two fish swimming amidst waves in the centre below a band of six floral spray panels on the cavetto. It is covered overall with a glaze of ochre-brown colour that stops at the unglazed rim exposing the fine white body.

Note: Compare a brown-glazed Ding bowl with similar moulded design but with a floral roundel in the centre, excavated at Zhelimu Naiman Mengqi in 1975 and now in the Jilin Provincial Museum, illustrated in Zhongguo taoci quanji – 9 – Ding yao, Kyoto, 1981, no. 113 (fig. 1).

fig. 1. A brown-glazed Ding bowl with a floral roundel in the centre, excavated at Zhelimu Naiman Mengqi in 1975, in the Collection of Jilin Provincial Museum.