Lot 99. A Xingyao white-glazed mallow-shaped dish, Five Dynasties (907-960); 15.2cm diam. Sold for US$8,320 (Estimate US$8,000-12,000). © Bonhams 2001-2025

With gently rounded sides and supported by a short ring foot, the cream-white glaze covered inside and out with 'tear drop' streaks on the exterior.

Provenance: From the Collection of Carl Kempe (1884-1967), Sweden, no. 362
Sotheby's London, 14 May 2008, lot 236

Published: 'Hsing-Yao and Ting-Yao', The Bulletin of Far Eastern Antiquities, no. 25, Stockholm, 1953, pl. 107, fig. 92
Bo Gyllensvärd, Chinese Ceramics in the Carl Kempe Collection, Stockholm, 1964, pl. 362

Note: Shallow bowls of this type were produced at the Ding, Xing and Gongxian kilns during the Tang dynasty. The present example shows the very fine white porcelain body with a blue-tinted glaze, both classic characteristics of Xing ware. The elegant potting and beautifully incised ying character elevated this Xingyao bowl to one of the best in its category.

The discovery of a Xingyao shard bearing both Hanlin and ying marks at the ruins of Tang dynasty imperial treasury called Da ying ku, loosely translated as "The Storeroom of Great Abundance", sparked great interest and research on the ying-marked white porcelains. In the research essay "White Porcelains with Chinese Character 'ying' from the Qinglongsi Temple Site" published in Kaogu yu wenwu (Archaeology and Cultural Relics), Xi'an, 1997, No. 6, the authors Zhai and Wang argued that the Qinglong temple enjoyed imperial patronage during the Tang dynasty, and the ying-marked Xingyao porcelains discovered at the site were most likely given to the temple as pious gifts from the emperor.