Of flattened shape decorated with a “basket-weave” pattern and set with two small tubular handles at the shoulder. It is covered inside and out in a dark-brown glaze, except for the outside neck and the flat, slightly concave base. The hard body is off-white and very compact, and the thin glaze very well integrated. These features, together with the high level of craftmanship suggest that it could have been produced in the Ding kilns, Hebei. Originally with a doomed cover with two handles.
The production of reed basket ceramic wares was concentrated to northern China between late Tang dynasty and Jin. Production peaked between the Five Dynasties and the mid-Jin, with the main production centers identified as being in Yaozhou in Shaanxi, Dingzhou in Hebei and Longquanwu in Beijing District.
Period: Song dynasty (960-1271), probably 10th or 11th century
Size: Height 11.8 cm
Condition: wear, firing flaws, small chip to the body (see last photo). No cracks or repairs found under UV-light
Provenance: Old Swedish private collection
SKU: 201
References: See a very similar, but smaller, bottle with its cover in the Carl Kempe collection illustrated in Ceramics in the Carl Kempe Collection, Stockholm, 1964, pl. 270. It was bought by Mr Kempe from Sotheby’s, London (lot 490) on 5 November 2008. The same bottle was sold again at Sothebys in Hong Kong (lot 629) 28 November 2018.
There is another very similar bottle in the Tectus Collection illustrated in The Tectus Collection – Chinese Ceramics, Engel, Erik, Borås, 1991, plate 44.
White glazed cups with similar basket weave patterns have been excavated from a tomb in Dingzhou City (dated to 977). One is illustrated in Complete Collection of Ceramic art unearthed in China, Hebei Volume, Beijing 2007, plate 88.
More info: Brown and Black wares
