Celadon octogonal vase, Southern Song dynasty, 12th-13th century, Guan ware. Height (cm) 21.0; Maximum Diameter (cm) 13.5; Weight (g) 795. The Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka (gift of SUMITOMO Group, the ATAKA Collection), photograph by MUDA Tomohiro (Accession No. 00569). © The Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka.

This vase has a depressed, pear-shaped body beveled into an octagonal form and a mouth with a flat brim. The raised lines on the neck and shoulder probably imitate similar motifs on ancient bronze ware. The milky, pale powder-blue glaze with a greenish tinge thickly covers the body. The clay body has a grayish black color and the foot rim is left unglazed to reveal the clay underneath, one of the features of Southern Song Guan ware known as "iron foot." While similar examples have been discovered at the kiln sites of Laohudong, which is thought to be the Southern Song Xiuneisi Guan (official) kiln, and the Jiaotanxia Guan kiln at the foot of Mount Wugui, both in Hangzhou, the glaze color and execution of this work are slightly different from them. However, it deserves to be called a Southern Song Guan ware from its features: in addition to the beautiful glaze color and the handsome form, this work has a typical thin body and thick glaze observed in Southern Song Guan ware.