A Fine Song Qingbai Ware Twin Fish Bowl

A Fine Song Qingbai Porcelain Carved Twin Fish Shallow Dish, probably from the Hutian Kilns, Jingdezhen, 12th or 13th Century. This well potted, rather light Song porcelain bowl was shaped over a mould and then biscuit fired. This produced the general form with six ribs, the center was then rapidly carved and combed, it was glazed, and its second firing created the object we see today. The center is carved with two fish swimming in the same direction, the glaze is even and not particularly thick, so the carved fish and combed waves appear clear and sharp. Originally, the edge which has been wiped clean of glaze would have been given a metal covering, these have almost all gone missing, sometimes tiny remnants of the corroded metal are left. The thin metal was designed to hide the edge on which the piece was fired. Once it was covered there was no sign of a kiln support to be seen, as the unglazed rim was what supported the piece in the kiln, this was very practical as the whole rim was supported evenly, therefore it was far less likely to end up distorted in the heat of the kiln. The Chinese word for fish Yu is pronounced in the same way as the word for abundance. So fish have come to represent prosperity and the carp is often represented as sign of success because of its perseverance, swimming up river. Pairs of fish swimming together, representing marital bliss, were common from the Southern Song (1128-1279) but it was in the Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368) that fish swimming with aquatic plants became a common subject, the patterns were based on popular designs found in Southern China. Some of the earliest Chinese blue and white porcelain (c.1320-1350) depicts fish swimming with plants, frequently lotus as this represented purity. These Yuan designs were shown in the center of bowls and dishes surrounded by concentric geometric borders. It was not until the 16th century that freer, more open designs of fish swimming among seaweed and crabs were popular

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