Each with shallow sides flaring from the edge of the slightly recessed flat base to the metal-bound mouth rim and gently indented to form five lobes, covered overall in brown lacquer.

Provenance: A Japenese private collection.

Note: See a similar lacquer dish found amongst a group of lacquer dated to the Tang dynasty excavated at Jianli Xian, Hubei province, published in Wenwu, 1982, 2.93, pl. 8. fig. 4. Compare also with a six-lobed brown lacquer Song dynasty dish of smaller size and similar form from the Lee Family collection, sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 3 December 2008, lot 2101; and a larger brown lacquer example sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 27 May 2009, lot 1898.

The shape and the metal bound mouth rim relate closely to Dingyao ceramics of the Tang period from which the present lacquer dish has taken its inspiration. Cf. three lobed Dingyao dishes with metal bound mouth rims, illustrated in Catalogue of the Special Exhibition of Ting Ware White Porcelain, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1987, nos. 102-104. Thinly potted Ding ceramic bowls and dishes were fired upside down on unglazed mouth rims, and were often fitted with metal bands either for protection or to provide a smoother surface