Guan ware Hibiscus-shaped basin with light bluish-green glaze, Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279 AD); Height 9.3 cm, Diameter 16.9 cm © National Palace Museum, Taiwan 

A six-lobed sunflower-shaped box, with a fitted lid and a concave top, deep walls without feet, and a hollow interior. It was fired on a support and glazed inside and out with a pale celadon glaze. The glaze is thick, with a slight pinkish edge where the glaze is thinner at the edges. There are crackles in some areas of the glaze, and multiple layers of glaze are visible at the bottom edge. Ochre was applied to the bottom edge, and old chips at the rim reveal the dark gray body. The British Museum's "Illustrations of Antiques" scroll provides a glimpse into the history of this type of work in the Qing court. Archaeological evidence includes square, round, and sunflower-shaped examples unearthed at the Qingliangsi kiln site in Baofeng County, Henan Province, and round examples at the Laohudong kiln site in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province. Since the original form can be traced back to lacquerware, and the Yue kiln also produced this type, it can be considered one of the popular vessel styles since the Five Dynasties period. Considering the examples unearthed from the tomb of King Injong of Goryeo (1146) in Korea, it can be inferred that this shape also spread overseas, becoming one of the vessel styles imitated by Goryeo celadon.