A Fine Song Dynasty Qingbai Porcelain Lotus Bowl
A Fine Southern Song Qingbai Porcelain Shallow Bowl. Probably, from the Hutian kilns, Jingdezhen, 11th or 12th Century. From the collection of Nicholas de la Mare Thompson (1928-2010). This Qingbai porcelain bowl is confidently and fluently carved with swirling flowering stems of lotus. This Qingbai dish was produced at one of the best kilns in Jingdezhen, most likely the Hutian kilns. Lotus is one of the most important symbols in the Chinese art. This Buddhist emblem is a symbol of purity, as the perfect pure flower grows out of muddy ponds without a stain or blemish.
The earliest known Qingbai wares were produced in Jingdezhen in Jiangxi province around the late 10th century and are characterized by faint pale-blue glazes on low, wide forms. Qingbai continued to be enormously popular and highly produced throughout the Song dynasty (960-1279) and was prevalent in the Yuan dynasty (1279-1368) but slackened during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) until being replaced by Tianbai, ‘sweet white’ ware. The initial forms of Qingbai were simple bowls and dishes, but by the mid-Northern Song the forms had advanced to include a wide variety of objects used for daily life such as ewers, boxes, incense burners, granary models, vases, jars, sculptures, cups, cup stands, water droppers, lamps, grave wares, and tools for writing and painting. The precedent for the majority of these forms are found in earlier metalwork and lacquer and Rawson has suggested that the imitation of silver was the primary force behind the production of white wares, including Qingbai. See our `History` section for more information about Song Porcelain and Stoneware by Mindy M. McDonald.
See Below For More Photographs and Information.
SOLD
- Condition
- In very condition, a section of the rim is slightly out of shape, this happened before the biscuit firing and appears to have been done by someone handling the the bowl when the clay was wet. Some crazing, small chips to the footrim.
- Size
- Diameter 19 cm (4.0 inches). Depth 6.4 cm (2.5 inches).
- Provenance
- Jan Van Beers 18th of September 1996 (Jan Van Beers was a well respected dealer with a gallery in Davis Street, London W1). The collection of Nicholas de la Mare Thompson (1928-2010).
- Stock number
- 27155
- References
- A similar example is illustrated in : Chinese Ceramics, The New Standard Guide From the Asian Museum in San Francisco (Hi Li, Thames and Hudson 1996. ISBN 0-500-23727-1) page 161, plate 287. It is from The Avery Brundage Collection, see 'Information' below the Photograph Gallery for more information, a photograph and a link to their website.
Photos
Information
A Similar Song Qingbai Bowl is in the Avery Brundage Collection, Asian Art Museum of San Francisco.
The Museum describe this as a tea bowl.
Jingdezhen, Jiangxi province, China
Date 1127-1279
Dynasty Southern Song period (1127-1279)
Materials Porcelain with molded decoration under glaze
Dimensions H. 2 3/8 in x Diam. 7 1/8 in, H. 6.1 cm x Diam. 18.1 cm
Credit Line The Avery Brundage Collection
Object number B62P177
Classifications Ceramics.
Nicholas de la Mare Thompson (1928-2010).
Nicholas de la Mare Thompson (1928-2010), the grandson of the author Walter de la Mare spent his career in publishing. He started at Nesbit where he was editor of the Janet and John series of children’s books but not all of his career was so safe. He wrestled with W.H. Smith over the content of Madonna’s raunchy Sex book on behalf of Paul Hamlyn’s Octopus Group and defeated Margaret Thatcher over Spycatcher. He could not bare dogma or hypocrisy. It was hardly surprising that as a committee member of the O.C.S. he had his own ideas. He read and could recite great swaths of the articles of the Society, he used this not to attack but to stimulate debate. He approached the Society in the same way as he approached his understanding of Chinese ceramics, by stripping it down and starting again using clear empirical thinking. He was very concerned the Society was open to all and was run for the benefit of all members. Nicholas came from a family of collectors, his love of oriental ceramics was broad but his focus was on early monochromes, especially those from the Song dynasty. He bought what he loved, what he thought had merit, not what was said to be good, and certainly not anything because it was fashionable. He didn’t have a stamp collectors approach, filling in the gaps of pre-existing ordered collection, rather he would react to an object, feeling it was right for his collection. Sometimes he wasn’t sure if it was right for his collection or not. He would then “borrow” pieces and live with them, other times he would ask his wife Caroline, who’s eye he trusted, if he should keep the piece or not. He was amused because I was often able to know if he would keep a piece before he did.
We discussed “pots” endlessly, he loved to talk about ceramics with a wide variety of people, and enjoyed the company of others on O.C.S. trips as well as in discussion groups or anywhere else. Later on he combined his love of Chinese ceramics with his love of books by extending his library to include rare early books, he used these to trace the development of collecting and scholarship in the 19th and early 20th century. He was fascinated by earlier scholarship, what was not understood but also what they understood and we have lost. He was always reading and wanted to know more right up to the end, he didn’t see impending death as a barrier to knowledge or indeed collecting. The week before he died he questioned, if only for a second, whether it was too late to buy another pot for the collection. He concluded it was not, he was a true collector. Nicolas died on the 25th of April 2010 at the age of 82 after living with cancer for two years. He leaves behind his energetically supportive wife Caroline and his three children. He was a kind, gentle and incredibly civilised man with a very sharp mind and dry sense of humour, he was passionate about the Society, its aims and its members. He was an incredibly supportive and thoughtful friend and is very much missed .
