Collection online

cup-stand

• Object type

  • cup-stand

• Museum number

  PDF.107

• Description

  Ding stoneware cup-stand, with copper-bound rim. Creamy white, with lotus design on interior.

• Culture/period

  • Northern Song dynasty

• Date

  • 11thC-12thC

• Production place

  • Made in: Quyang (county)
  • (Asia,China,Hebei (province),Quyang)

• Materials

  • stoneware
  • copper

• Ware

  • Ding Ware

• Technique

  • incised
  • glazed

• Dimensions

  • Height: 20 millimetres
  • Diameter: 192 millimetres

• Curator's comments

  Published PDF date : Northern Song 11thC-12thCRoom 95 label text:

  PDF 107

  Cup stand with incised lotus decoration

  
  The base and foot of both are glazed. Between AD 1086 and AD 1127, Ding potters pioneered the technique of fushao (firing a vessel upside down on its rim). Kiln managers saved on fuel by firing a greater number of pots at one time, stacking them in stepped saggars. The disadvantage was the unglazed mouth rim, cleaned free of glaze to avoid the vessel sticking to the saggar. Craftsmen used sheet copper and occasionally gold or silver, cut to size and heated to fit the rims to hide this flaw. Historical accounts suggest that dressing the rim with metal actually enhanced the status of the clay vessel.

  
  Stoneware with carved decoration, transparent glaze and copper rim mount
  Ding ware 定窯
  Quyang county, Hebei province 河北省，曲陽縣
  Northern Song dynasty, about AD 1086–1127

  More 

• Bibliography

  • Medley 1975 Monochrome pl. 17
  • Medley 1980 p.12, no.15

• Location

  On display: G95/dc10/sh3

• Acquisition name

  • On loan from: Sir Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art

• Department

  Asia

• Registration number

  PDF.107