Ru stoneware bowl-stand, Northern Song dynasty (1086-1125), Qingliangsi, Baofeng county, Henan province. Stoneware with celadon glaze. Diameter: 170 mm Height: 65 mm. PDF.81 © The Trustees of the British Museum

Bhowl shaped with a flange shaped like a five petalled flower. The bowl-stand has greyish-blue glaze with fine crackle. There are five elliptical spur marks on the base.

This stand was fired on its foot on a support with five prongs which have left five oval spur marks. Its design is inspired by a mallow flower with five petals. Here the overlapping petals are suggested by using raised slip lines beneath the crackled celadon glaze. Members of the Northern Song imperial court used such stands to support bowls of various materials for drinking tea. Korean potters supplying the Goryeo court with high quality ceramics in the twelfth century made close copies of such Ru wares. Both Korean celadons (see Gallery 94) and Chinese Ru wares have chemically similar glazes, suggesting an early international exchange of technology.