Lot 32. A fine molded 'Ding' dish, Northern Song dynasty (960-1127). Diameter 6 3/4  in., 17.1 cm. Estimate 100,000 — 150,000 USD. Lot sold 545,000 USD. © Sotheby's 

of steep conical form, the rim bound in metal, resting on a small circular footrim, crisply molded with three stylized formal lotus flanked by delicately rendered curling and turning leaves and stems, a small floret at the center, all beneath a narrow key-fret border, the exterior with characteristic tear marks, Japanese wood box (7).

Provenance: Kitayama Fine Arts, Tokyo, acquired in the 1970s. 

Exhibited: Chugoku kotoji to-so meito ten, Japan Ceramic Society, Tokyo, 1964, cat. no. 134. 

Literature: Chugoku Touji Meihou Ten Series, The Gotoh Museum, Tokyo, 1966, no. 25.

Note: This bowl is notable for the crispness of the molded design which elegantly exhibits the confident and intricate design of flower heads and scrolling leaves. Such depth of decoration is a testament to the skill of the craftsman and highquality of the piece. A closely related example in the Qing Court collection, and still in Beijing, is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Porcelain of the Song Dynasty (I), Hong Kong, 1996, pl. 54; another was included in the exhibition White Porcelain of Ding yao, Nezu Institute of Fine Arts, Tokyo, 1983, cat. no.137; and a third example, from the Honolulu Academy of Arts, Honolulu, is published in Jan Wirgin, Sung Ceramic Designs, Stockholm, 1970, pl. 81, together with a slightly smaller bowl from the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, pl. 80a. A slightly smaller bowl was sold in our London rooms, 14th November 1967, lot 54; and another was sold at Christie’s Tokyo, 16th and 17th February 1980, lot 743

Compare bowls of this type, but decorated with four large blossoms on the sides, such as one in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Selection of Ding Ware. The Palace Museum’s Collection and Archaeological Excavation, Beijing, 2012, pl. 68; and another formerly in the collection of C.T. Loo, included in Jan Wirgin, op. cit., pl. 80b.