Lot 1309. A Jizhou ‘Tortoiseshell-Glazed’ Bowl, Southern Song Dynasty, 12th-13th Century; 6¼ in. (16 cm.) diam. Estimate USD 7,000 - USD 9,000. Price realised USD 8,750. © Christie's Image Ltd 2010. 

With conical sides rounding up towards the rim, covered inside and out with a rich dark brown glaze liberally splashed in translucent golden glaze in imitation of mottled tortoiseshell, the glaze ending short of the knife-pared foot to expose the buff-colored granular ware, box. 

Note: The 'tortoiseshell' glaze was perfected at the Jizhou kilns in Jiangxi province during the Song dynasty. These kilns, and the 'tortoiseshell' glaze, discussed by R. Mowry, Hare's Fur, Tortoiseshell and Partridge Feathers: Chinese Black-and-Brown-Glazed Ceramics, 400-1400, Cambridge, 1996, where a very similar bowl is illustrated, p. 226, no. 87.

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, New York, 16 - 17 September 2010