A RARE SMALL 'GUAN' MALLOW-FORM BOWL SOUTHERN SONG - MING DYNASTY |

the thinly potted body with rounded sides rising from a narrow tapering foot to a flaring rim notched into six lobes, covered overall with a thick opaque glaze of grayish blue-green color, suffused with a matrix of dark gray and pale golden crackles, ending neatly at the foot revealing the dark brown body, the recessed base also glazed

Mathias Komor, New York, May 1950.
Collection of Pauline (1910-2000) and Myron S. Falk, Jr. (1907-1992).
Christie's New York, 20th September 2001, lot 112.

Neolithic to Ming, Chinese Objects- The Myron S. Falk Collection, Smith College Museum of Art, MA, 1957, cat. no. 22.
Inaugural Exhibition of the Robert F. Reiff Gallery of Asian Art, Middlebury College Museum of Art, Middlebury, Vermont, September 2005.

Robert P. Youngman, The Five Famous Imperial Wares of the Song Dynasty, self-published, 2000, pp. 22-23.

The glaze has some degradation from burial, resulting in brownish discoloration to the rim of one lobe (as illustrated) and one side of the bowl has a slightly yellowish tone. The surface has been cleaned and polished. There are minor firing imperfections, particularly glaze gaps, as illustrated. There are very minor chips to the foot ring and shallow frits to the rim, commensurate with age. The glaze has a very subtle hint of blue to the tone compared to the illustration in the printed catalog.
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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Guan wares were made in very small numbers, and the present bowl is an extremely rare example. The unctuous glaze of the present bowl with its pleasing texture was achieved through the gradual application of multiple glaze layers and successive firings. The distinct crackling was caused by different degrees of shrinkage between the glaze and body material, produced by a well-controlled cooling process after the last firing and subsequent staining. Related bowls attributed to the Southern Song dynasty include two examples in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Catalogue of the Special Exhibition of Sung Dynasty Kuan Ware, Hong Kong, 1989, cat. nos 106 and 107, and three examples of six-petal rimmed bowls of slightly smaller size illustrated in Selection of Ge Ware, The Palace Museum Collection and Archaeological Discoveries, Beijing, 2017, pls 31-33.