A rare 'Ding' black-glazed bowl, Northern Song dynasty | 北宋 定窰黑釉茶盞

Private Collection.

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Smooth and glossy, the present bowl is a fine example of the technical developments achieved by potters working at the Ding kilns in Quyang county, west Hebei province, during the Song dynasty (960-1279). Black-glazed bowls of this type were associated with the lavish black lacquer wares celebrated at the time. While their white ceramics might now be more commonly known, since they were produced in much larger quantities, the dark-glazed Ding wares were of higher value, as is stated in the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) collectors’ handbook Gegu Yaolun (Guide to the Study of Antiquities) of 1388.

Although a number of wide conical bowls are extant, black-glazed Ding bowls of this form, with rounded sides, are very rare. Compare two examples of conical form, one now in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (accession no. 1991.253.19); and another in The British Museum, London (accession no. PDF.300), illustrated in Regina Krahl and Jessica Harrison-Hall, Chinese Ceramics: Highlights of the Sir Percival David Collection, London, 2009, p. 12, fig. 3.