Detail View: The AMICA Library: Dish

ASIA.1979.132

1998

Decorative Arts and Utilitarian Objects

Asian; Far East Asian; Chinese

Chinese

Dish

Full view

Northern Song period, late 11th-early 12th century

1066

1133

Stoneware with carved and combed design under glaze (Yaozhou ware)

Ceramics

China, Shanxi Province

H. 1 1/2 in. (3.8 cm); D. 7 in. (17.8 cm)

Asia Society

New York, New York, USA

1979.132

Asia Society: The Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection

http://www.asiasociety.org

Ceramics made in China during the Song period (960-1279) are among the most influential and revered in the world: they are noted for their elegant, simple shapes, lush glazes, and lively designs. These ceramics are admired in part because of the complicated and varied technologies used in their manufacture. Since the late 12th and early 13th centuries, five of the wares produced during this period--Ding, Ru, Jun, Guan, and Ge--have been designated the "five great wares" of China.

Perhaps the most popular of all Song-era ceramics were the wares colored with green-blue-gray glazes. Yaozhou wares, such as the small dish seen here, were a widely distributed green-glazed ceramic, generally believed to have been made for popular consumption rather than for the court. Thirteenth-century Chinese records indicate that Yaozhou wares were considered crude and were used by restaurants because of their durability. Yaozhou wares are named after the former name of the Tongchuan region of Shaanxi Province, where the majority and the best of these pieces were manufactured. Noted for their deeply carved designs, Yaozhou wares have light gray bodies and thick, olive-green glazes. The designs and shapes of Yaozhou wares are closely related to those of Ding wares; in the late 11th and early 12th centuries, the technical innovations made at the Ding kilns were also used in the production of Yaozhou wares. These include the use of stepped saggars for firing vessels, the upside-down (fushao) firing technique, and the use of ceramic molds to impress designs on the pieces. The introduction of reusable molds also facilitated mass production.

The lush peony carved into the bottom of this dish is typical of the bold decoration found on Yaozhou wares: the petals and flowers of the peony are so deeply carved that the glaze pools into the recesses, deepening its tone and making the design more prominent. Combed lines further enhance the decoration.

Several reasons have been suggested for the popularity of green-glazed wares in Chinese ceramic history: green glazes derived from iron oxides are relatively easy to produce and were among the first glazes created in China. The interest in green glaze has also been linked to the Chinese preference for jade.

Asia Society. Handbook of the Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection. New York: Asia Society, [1981], p. 62.

Christie, Manson, and Woods. Chinese Ceramics (auction, London, June 28-29, 1965), lot 297.

Lee, Sherman E. Asian Art: Selections from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd. New York: Asia Society, 1970, pp. 52, 53, 72, 73.

Mowry, Robert D. 'The Sophistication of Song Dynasty Ceramics.' Apollo (November 1983), pp.395-97.

Young, Mahonri Sharp.

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