Lot 123. A Hong Kong Connoisseur's Collection of Song and Ming Porcelain.  An extremely rare Dingyao gilt-decorated black-glazed 'floral' bowl, Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127); 13.7cm diam. Sold for HK$486,400 (Est: $400 000 HKD - $600 000 HKD) © Bonhams 2001-2023

The wide rounded sides rising to an everted rim, supported on short foot ring, the interior formerly applied in gilt with the decoration of a blossoming peony borne on a leafy spray and left with subtle marks, overall covered in black glaze thinning at the mouth rim and above the ring foot in a lighter russet colour, the foot unglazed revealing the white biscuit, box (2).

Provenance: Acquired in the 1980s.

Note: The peony painted in gold on the interior are faded throughout the times yet the pattern can be traced by the silver shiny outlines. It is interesting to note that during the Northern Song dynasty, a very small number of wares were applied with gilt decorations. Potters applied the gold onto the glaze by mixing it with garlic juice before the second firing. This decorative method rarely appears on northern wares and is most likely exclusive to Ding wares at very limited quantities.

A few examples include a black Ding bowl with gilt lotus decorations, in the MOA Museum of Art, Japan, illustrated in So ji[Song ceramics], Tobu Museum of Art, Tokyo; The Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka; Hagi Uragami Museum, Hagi, 1999, catalogue no. 37; another black Ding bowl with gilt peony motifs, in The Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka, ibid., no. 38. Another black Ding bowl with gilt decorations was excavated from the site of the Goryeo imperial palace, currently in the National Museum of Korea, illustrated in Chinese Ceramics at the National Museum of Korea, Seoul, 2007, p. 448.

Bonhams. SUBTLE BEAUTY THE AESTHETICS OF SONG DYNASTY, 29 November 2023, Hong Kong, Admiralty