The bean-shaped high pillow is of the popular form of Song and Jin dynasty, on the top carved with tiny lines delicately with blooming peony fully surround by foliage scrolls and a scrolling band on the below façade, other three sides with marvelous openwork of foliate scroll with lotus blooming, all covered with a clear glaze. The base is unglazed, revealing the fine, white body.

Provenance: 1. Collection of Eskenazi, London
2. The Ten-views Lingbi Rock Retreat Collection, no. EK183.

Exhibited: Song: Chinese Ceramics, 10th to 13th Century, Eskenazi, London, November 6 - 29, 2003, cat. no. 23.

Literature: Song: Chinese Ceramics, 10th to 13th Century, Eskenazi, London, 2003, cat. no. 23.

Note: Derived from the contemporaneous metalwork, it is quite rare to find openwork decorated ceramics pillow like this lot, the foliate scrolls pattern are more commonly seen in ewers and vases in carving or painting techniques. Similar patterns can be found in the metalwork of the tomb relics from Liao to Song dynasty. Two 'Ding' bean-shaped pillow can be found in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Porcelain of the Song Dynasty (I), Hong Kong, 1996, p.98 and 100, pl.89 and 90.