A FINELY POTTED 'YAOZHOU' RUSSET-GLAZED MEIPING SONG DYNASTY

The present vase, undoubtedly inspired by 'Ding' bottles of very similar form covered in a russet glaze, is a rare example of the advanced technical knowledge and ability of potters at the Yaozhou kilns to produce wares after the famous 'Ding' kilns. It also shows how the Yaozhou potters kept abreast of current styles in the wares and that there was a local demand for 'Ding' imitations by a more humble clientele. Two russet-glazed 'Ding' bottles of similar ovoid form, excavated from the tomb of Zhang Min at Zhenjiang, Jiangsu province, are mentioned in Robert D. Mowry, Hare's Fur, Tortoiseshell, and Partridge Feathers, Cambridge, Mass., 1995, p. 124, of which one is illustrated in Zhongguo taoci quanji, vol. 7, Shanghai, 2000, pl. 55.  

Compare also a Cizhou-type russet-glazed ovoid bottle, in the Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Harvard University Art Museum, illustrated ibid., pl.24; another slightly smaller bottle illustrated in Sekai toji zenshu, vol. 10, Tokyo, 1955, col. pl. 13; and a third example with a more compressed ovoid body, in the National Museum of Korea, Seoul, included in Sekai toji zenshu, vol. 12, Tokyo, 1977, col. pl. 123.