A VERY RARE BROWNISH-BLACK LACQUER FOLIATE-RIMMED DISH SOUTHERN SONG DYNASTY

the delicately lobed and rounded sides rising from a slightly recessed base to a broad slightly flaring foliate rim, the lacquer of a warm deep toffee tone, the base with Yu Zhang mark in red lacquer within a double-lozenge

Noble Japanese Family Collection, prior to World War II.

The dish is in remarkable condition for a Song tray. Apart from only a few areas to the rim restored and some light age cracks, the dish has not been relacquered and is in very good condition. There are a few lighter circular patches on the interior, which appear perhaps to come from some cups that once sat on the tray.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

This distinctive form, sometimes referred to as 'water caltrop' shape since the bracket lobes resemble the fruit of this aquatic plant, probably first appeared in the Southern Song period but became one of the classic dish shapes of the Yuan dynasty. The barbed outline is well known from Yuan porcelain, but the lacquer versions differ in various respects. Unlike the porcelains, for example, the lacquer dishes often have an uneven number of brackets; and the repeat of the barbed line of the rim around the centre inside, which makes this dish so elegant, is not found on pieces turned on a wheel.

A slightly smaller seven-pointed dish, also with a bracket-lobed centre, is in the Freer Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., illustrated in N.S. Bromelle and Perry Smith, eds, Urushi, Proceedings of the Urushi Study Group, June 10-27, 1985, Tokyo, Tokyo, 1988, p. 212, fig. 12, where x-ray radiography revealed that it was created in the dry lacquer technique on a fabric core, that was stretched over a mould. Another slightly smaller black lacquer dish of this seven-pointed form from the collection of the Tokyo National Museum was included in the exhibition Toyo no Shikkogei/Oriental Lacquer Arts, Tokyo National Museum, Tokyo, 1977, cat. no. 430, together with a larger octafoil red lacquer dish, pl. 482; the seven-pointed example is illustrated again in colour in Hai-wai Yi-chen. Qiqi/Chinese Art in Overseas Collections. Lacquerware. Taipei, 1987, pl. 42.

Another red lacquer example in the Tokyo exhibition, ibid., pl. 483, with eleven brackets, on the other hand, has a circular centre and the fluted sides are not fully conforming to the bracket foliations of the rim. That dish has a wooden core, probably shaped by turning, which explains the different treatment of the form. The piece is now in the Museum fur Lackkunst, Munster, Germany, published again in colour in Monika Kopplin, ed., The Monochrome Principle. Lacquerware and Ceramics of the Song and Qing Dynasties, Munich, 2008, p. 113, pl. 22. Another red dish of this type, with nine bracket foliations and a circular centre, from the collection of Sir Harry and Lady Garner was included in the exhibition Chinese Art under the Mongols: The Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368), The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, 1968, cat. no. 282.

Since Yuan porcelain examples are were generally turned rather than moulded, they are on the whole not very close in shape. An exception is a rare saucer-shaped, bracket-lobed type of dish, which was moulded and therefore shares with the lacquer examples the bracket-lobed centre; see Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, London, 1994, vol. 2, pl. 631; usually Yuan porcelain dishes were formed on the potter's wheel and therefore – like the lacquer dishes with a turned wooden core – have a circular centre and sides.