Cup with crackled celadon glaze. Stoneware with celadon glaze. Guan ware 官窯. Hangzhou, Zhejiang province 浙江省，杭州市. Yuan dynasty, AD 1279–1368. Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art. PDF A52. British Museum © Trustees of the British Museum

Ge stoneware lobed cup with six bracket lobes. The cup has a dark greyish-brown body and greenish-grey glaze with two layers of crackle, the main layer stained black and the other ginger. Where exposed, the body is reddish. The base and the foot are glazed and the foot rim unglazed. Height: 42 mm. Diameter: 82 mm.

Potters made guan wares at the Laohudong 老虎洞 kiln site in Hangzhou. Scholars suggest this site may be the one described in historical texts as修内司 (xiuneisi ‘Palace Maintenance Office’) or 内窯 (neiyao ‘Inner Kiln’). Most scholars believe the Laohudong kiln was set up before the Jiaotanxia 郊壜下kiln also in Hangzhou. Craftsmen at both these production sites made ritual, table and ornamental wares for the imperial court.

Bibliographic reference: Yorke Hardy, Sheila, Tung, Ju, Kuan, Chun, Kuang-tung & Glazed I-hsing Wares in the Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, London, University of London, Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, School of Oriental and African Studies, 1953

Pierson, Stacey, Illustrated catalogue of Ru, Guan, Jun, Guangdong and Yixing wares in the Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, London, University of London, Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, School of Oriental and African Studies, 1999