Lot 129. A persimmon-glazed truncated meiping, tulu ping, Song dynasty (960-1279), 5 ¼ in. (13.3 cm.) diam. Estimate GBP 25,000 - GBP 35,000 (USD 31,975 - USD 44,765). Photo Sotheby's.

The vase is modelled with a flaring neck above a broad, high-shouldered body which tapers to the flat base. The surface, apart from the base, is covered with a rich russet glaze with subtle metallic lustre. 

Provenance: Acquired in Hong Kong in late 1970's.
The dating of the current lot is consistent with the results of Oxford Authentication Thermoluminescence test No P114d19.

Note: Persimmon glazed vessels appear to have been especially admired on vases and tea ceremony wares. They were produced at several northern Chinese kilns in the Song and early Jin periods, including the Ding and Yaozhou kilns. The Gegu yaolun, published in AD 1388, notes that 'purple' (i.e. persimmon) and black Ding were even more expensive than white Ding wares. See Sir Percival David, Chinese Connoisseurship - The Ko Ku Yao Lun, London, 1971, p. 141. 

The truncated meiping form of this vase was one that enjoyed a relatively brief period of popularity in the Northern Song and Jin periods. An example a of persimmon-glazed truncated meiping is in the collection of the Idemitsu Museum of Art, published in Chinese Ceramics in the Idemitsu Collection, Tokyo, 1987, pl. 112. The same museum also has a black-glazed truncated meiping as well as a sgraffiato-decorated Ding ware version.  

Similar examples sold at auction include Christie's New York, 20 September 2002, lot 293 and Sotheby's New York, 23 March 2011, lot 560. 

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics And Works of Art, 9 May 2017, London, King Street