This bottle is an example of Yaozhou wares typical of the Northern Song dynasty (960-1127). While the wares produced at the Yaozhou kiln complex enjoyed popularity from the end of the Tang dynasty (618-906) through to the beginning of the Yuan dynasty (1279-1368), this bottle exhibits the olive green glaze and carved floral designs common to the Yaozhou wares of the Northern Song period.
The beautifully complex design of this bottle began with a smooth body, partially dried (or ‘leather hard’). Using an angled tool, the floral pattern was carved out of the surface in sloping grooves. The celadon glaze was then applied to this uneven surface, pooling in the crevices and laying thinly on raised areas. Through firing, the pooled areas grew darker in colour, and the thinly glazed areas more transparent, creating illusion of light and shadows on the surface of this bottle.
Physical description
This vase was made in Yaozhou, north of the divide separating northern and southern China (see p.24). It has a grey stoneware body, covered with an olive-green glaze. Modern scholars in the West traditionally refer to this type as celadon, the Chinese equivalent for this term being simply 'greenware'.
The first greenwares were made in southern China. Eventually the technology spread to the north and for a brief period in the eleventh century the Yaozhou products outshone their southern competitors, due partly to the fact that the capital city, Kaifeng, was situated much closer to the northern kilns. The geographical proximity of the Yaozhou and Ding kilns (see p.36) led to these two wares sharing many stylistic features. The decoration on Yaozhou ware, however, tends to be deeply carved, rather than incised or moulded. The olive-green glaze pools in the carved areas, intensifying in colour and making the design - in this case a peony - much more apparent.
The Yaozhou kiln site was excavated by the Chinese authorities in the twentieth century, but there is currently no evidence that the wares were exported in the Song dynasty. China's neighbour Korea produced a similar green-glazed stoneware in the twelfth century, but Yaozhou ware is not thought to have been its source of inspiration.
Place of Origin
Shaanxi, China (made)
Date
1000-1127 (made)
Artist/maker
Unknown (production)
Materials and Techniques
Stoneware, glazed and carved
Dimensions
Height: 24.0 cm, Diameter: 12.0 cm
Descriptive line
Vase, carved and glazed stoneware, Yaozhou ware, China, Northern Song dynasty, 1000-1127
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
Kerr, Rose. Song Dynasty Ceramics. London: V&A Publications, 2004. p. 52, no. 47.
Liefkes, Reino and Hilary Young (eds.) Masterpieces of World Ceramics in the Victoria and Albert Museum. London: V&A Publishing, 2008, pp. 38-39.
Exhibition History
International Exhibition of Chinese Art (Royal Academy of Arts 01/01/1935-31/12/1936)
Labels and date
China, Yaozhou kilns
Northern Song dynasty,
1000–1200
Green-glazed stonewares, called ‘celadons’ in Europe, were first made in southern China. Eventually the technology spread to northern China, and for a brief period after 1000 the products of the Yaozhou kilns in the north outshone their southern competitors. The decoration was deeply carved. This allowed the glaze to pool in the recesses, intensifying the colour and making the design more legible.
Glazed stoneware with carved decoration
Museum no. C.810-1936
Purchased with the assistance of The Art Fund, the Vallentin Bequest,
Sir Percival David and the Universities China Committee [September 2009]
Materials
Stoneware; Celadon
Techniques
Glazed; Carved
Categories
Ceramics; Stoneware; Vases
Collection code
EAS
