New Forms - Song/Yuan

24
TWO XINGYAO-TYPE SQUARE DISHES
Liao dynasty, 907-1125
邢 窯 白 釉 方 口 盤 一 組 兩 件 ( 遼 907-1125)
Dimensions: 12 cm wide
Provenance: - Purchased from Oriental Arts UK, March 2003
- A private Hong Kong collection
Published: - Oriental Arts UK, Asia Week New York 2003, no. 8, p. 11
One moulded as a chrysanthemum bloom with highly defined leaves radiating
from a central flower forming the shallow and flaring sides of the dish, the other
moulded with a central medallion of a flying dragon and blossoming peony to each
of the four sides.
For a single, similar Lindong ware square dish see ‘Song Ceramics from the Kwan
Collection’, catalogue from the Hong Kong Museum of Art exhibition 22 July to
11 September 1994, pl. 193, p. 422.
Xing ware was produced in the Xing kilns in the northern province of Hebei. It can
be regarded as a predecessor of Ding ware. Rose Kerr discusses Xing ware in her
book ‘Song Dynasty Ceramics’: ‘The great fame of Xing ware rests in its designation
as the earliest true porcelain made in China, and hence in the world. […] Xing
wares are the whitest of early northern porcelains, both as regards body and glaze.’
(Kerr, R. Song Dynasty Ceramics, Victoria and Albert Museum Far Eastern Series,
London 2004, p40)