A small Junyao blue-glazed ink palette, Song dynasty, with zitan box, signed Deng Er'ya | 宋 鈞窰天藍釉筆掭 配鄧爾雅銘紫檀蓋盒

The present lot was originally made as a test piece. Potters used this type of small plaques to assess the ideal kiln temperatures and glaze recipes. Jun glazed test pieces of various shapes have been discovered and some made their ways into private collections for their aesthetics and academic values. See, for example, a Jun square test piece from the Sir Percival David Collection in the British Museum, London, accession no. PDF.98.