A Fine Song Dynasty Qingbai (Shadow Blue) Glazed Bowl-Form Water Vessel, 12th Century

拍品描述

Dimensions: Height 7.5 cm (approximately 2.95 inches, 0.25 feet); mouth diameter 10.5 cm (approximately 4.13 inches, 0.34 feet); 13th century, Southern Song DynastyCondition & Provenance: Overall well preserved, with the form intact and the glaze retaining a soft, lustrous surface. Natural pale yellow-brown staining, firing characteristics, and minor age-related surface wear are present. Private collection, Hong Kong.Description: Elegantly potted as a compact “chicken-heart” water vessel, the piece has a narrow, gently constricted mouth opening directly into a full, rounded body, with no pronounced neck. The generously curved sides taper gradually toward the base, giving the vessel a compact yet remarkably balanced profile well suited to the refined scholar’s-table tradition of the Song dynasty. The interior and exterior are covered in a pale qingbai glaze characteristic of the Hutian kilns, displaying a delicate bluish-white tone with a soft, translucent luster. Subtle pale yellow-brown speckling appears naturally across the surface, while the thinner glaze around the mouth reveals a warmer creamy tone. The fully glazed interior maintains the same restrained blue-white palette, giving the vessel the quiet elegance for which Song qingbai porcelain is celebrated. The flat base is left unglazed, revealing a fine, pale body with naturally accumulated staining and darker traces of age. Its understated form, softly luminous glaze, and restrained decoration embody the Song aesthetic of achieving refinement through proportion, material, and surface rather than elaborate ornament. Originally suited to holding water for the scholar’s inkstone, the vessel has both the intimate scale of a functional scholar’s object and the sculptural presence of a refined early Chinese ceramic.

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