Dish thumbnail 1
Dish thumbnail 2
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Ceramics, Room 137, The Curtain Foundation Gallery

Dish

960-1127 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This dish is an example of the 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), these dishes exhibit the olive green glaze and dense surface designs common to the Yaozhou wares of the Northern Song period.

Carving was an important method of surface decoration in Yaozhou ware. The dish on the far left would have begun with a smooth clay body, partially dried (or ‘leather hard’). Angled tools were used to carve out the stylised waves and duck in sloping grooves, and comb-like tools provided the linear accents visible in the waves. The celadon glaze was then applied to the dish, 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 the illusion of light and shadows in the surface design.


Object details

Category
Object type
Materials and techniques
Stoneware, incised and glazed
Brief description
Dish, incised and glazed stoneware, Yaozhou ware, China, Northern Song dynasty (960-1127)
Physical description
Dish with incised design of ducks among waves, Yaozhou ware
Dimensions
  • Diameter: 17.5cm
Style
Credit line
Bequeathed by Mrs A. C. M. Brownjohn
Subjects depicted
Summary
This dish is an example of the 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), these dishes exhibit the olive green glaze and dense surface designs common to the Yaozhou wares of the Northern Song period.

Carving was an important method of surface decoration in Yaozhou ware. The dish on the far left would have begun with a smooth clay body, partially dried (or ‘leather hard’). Angled tools were used to carve out the stylised waves and duck in sloping grooves, and comb-like tools provided the linear accents visible in the waves. The celadon glaze was then applied to the dish, 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 the illusion of light and shadows in the surface design.
Bibliographic reference
Kerr, Rose. Song Dynasty Ceramics. London: V&A Publications, 2004. p. 56, nos. 51 and 51a.
Collection
Accession number
CIRC.362-1967

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Record createdFebruary 25, 2005
Record URL
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