A rare Junyao blue-glazed dish, Northern Song dynasty | 北宋 鈞窰天藍釉折沿盤

Bluett & Sons, London, label.

Bluett & Sons，倫敦（標籤）

The shallow and sturdy form of this dish, with a wide everted rim, represents a classic shape of Jun ware produced at kilns in Henan province. One of the 'Five Classic Wares' of the Song dynasty, these wares are known for their ravishing blue glazes, which were not achieved from pigment but from an optical illusion where minute spherules of glass in the glaze scattered blue light. Unlike the other classic wares of the Song dynasty, the porous and thick body of Jun ware was best suited for simple forms, such as this charming dish.

Two slightly smaller dishes in the collection of the Beijing Palace Museum are illustrated in Selection of Jun Ware. the Palace Museum's Collection and Archaeological Excavation, Beijing, 2013, pls 18 and 19; two slightly larger dishes were sold in our London rooms, the first from the collection of Edward T. Chow, published in Basil Gray, Early Chinese Pottery and Porcelain, London, 1952, pl. 84, sold on 16th December 1980, lot 272, and the second, 10th December 1991, lot 133; and another dish of similar size from the Tianminlou Collection, was sold in our rooms, 30th May 2019, lot 12.

Compare also two dishes that were fired on five spurs, in the Taipei Palace Museum, illustrated in A Panorama of Ceramics in the Collection of the Palace Museum: Chun Ware, Taipei, 1999, pls 54 and 55; a dish in the Idemitsu Museum of Arts, Tokyo, illustrated in Chinese Ceramics in the Idemitsu Collection, Tokyo, 1987, pl. 495; and a dish from the Sir Percival David Collection, now in the British Museum, London, published in Illustrated Catalogue of Ru, Guan, Jun, Guangdong and Yixing Wares in the Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, London, 1999, pl. A66.

鈞窰天藍釉盤，淺壁寬沿，經典雋永，名列宋朝五大名窰，天藍釉色澄澈明豔，胎骨厚實，器行簡素，韻味 悠長。

北京故宮博物院藏二件較小鈞窰盤，錄於《鈞窰雅集：故宮博物院珍藏及出土鈞窰瓷器薈萃》，北京，2013 年，圖版18、19；倫敦蘇富比售出二件較大盤器，其一出自仇焱之收藏，出版於 Basil Gray，《Early Chinese Pottery and Porcelain》，倫敦，1952年，圖版84，1980年12月16日售出，編號272；另一售於1991年12月10日， 編號133；另一例，尺寸相近，為天民樓舊藏，後售於香港蘇富比，2019年5月30日，編號12。

比較台北故宮博物院藏二盤，見五支釘痕，載於《故宮藏瓷大系：鈞窰之部》，台北，1999年，圖版54、 55；東京出光美術館藏一盤，錄於《Chinese Ceramics in the Idemitsu Collection》，東京，1987年，圖版495；還 有大維德基金會藏一例，現存於倫敦大英博物館， 刊於《Illustrated Catalogue of Ru, Guan, Jun, Guangdong and Yixing Wares in the Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art》，倫敦，1999年，圖版A66。