Lot 868. An exceptionally rare carved Ding bean-shaped pillow, Northern Song-Jin dynasty, 12th century; 11 3/8 in. (28.9 cm.) long, cloth box. Estimate USD 60,000 – USD 80,000. Price Realised USD 75,600. © Christie's 2023

The slightly concave top is decorated with a carp swimming amidst lotus blooms, lily pads, and other aquatic plants framed by a running scroll border and the tall sides are embellished with a wide band of scrollwork, all carved through the pale iron-brown slip to reveal the white ground and covered overall with a transparent glossy glaze. The base is left unglazed and has four small vent apertures.

Provenance: J. J. Lally & Co., New York, no. 4854.

Note: It is extremely rare to find a Ding pillow with zoomorphic decoration, as most examples exhibit floral designs. For a two-color Ding pillow carved with a lotus design in the Palace Museum, Beijing, dated by inscription to the eighth year of Dading (1168), see The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - 32 - Porcelain of the Song Dynasty (I), Hong Kong, 1996, pp. 98-99, no. 89. A further, two-color Ding pillow of related form and floral design is in the Palace Museum, Beijing, and illustrated in Dingci yaji: Gugong bowuyuan zhencang ji chutu Dingyao ciqi huicui (Selection of Ding Ware: The Palace Museum’s Collection and Archaeological Excavation), Beijing, 2012, no. 100.

See, also, the carved Ding pillow now in the Dingzhou Museum, Hebei province, illustrated by Mu in Dingci yishu (The Art of Ding Porcelain), Shijiazhuang, 2002, p. 148, no. 198. Other carved two-color Ding pillows of this type include one in the Philadelphia Museum of Art illustrated by B. Gray in Sung Porcelain and Stoneware, London, 1984, p. 72, no. 52; another in Chinese Ceramic Pillows from Yeung Wing Tak Collection, Osaka, 1984, p. 34, no. 6; and one in the collection of Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, accession number 59.16.

Christie's. J. J. Lally& Co., New York, 23.03.2023