Lot 8
  • 8

A BLACK-GLAZED 'OIL-SPOT' BOWL NORTHERN SONG / JIN DYNASTY

Estimate
40,000 - 60,000 USD
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Description

delicately potted with an incurved rim, supported on a short foot ring, covered with an unctuous black-brown glaze painted with irregular metallic purplish 'oil-spots', stopping short of the foot to leave an unglazed area covered with dark brown slip, Japanese wood box (2)

Provenance

Private Japanese collection. 

Condition

In excellent general condition, with the exception of a very thin and shallow 10mm wide area of infill to the rim. Several small chips to the unglazed foot ring.
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.

Catalogue Note

Of superb shape and outstanding finish, this is an exceptional example of an 'oil-spot' bowl, most likely produced in Shanxi province. For others of comparable quality, see a pair of similar black-glazed 'oil-spot' bowls illustrated in John Ayers, Chinese Ceramics in the Baur Collection, Geneva, 1999, vol. 1, pls 29 and 30. Compare also a pair in the Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Harvard University, included in the exhibition Art Museums, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1995-96, cat. nos 43a and b; a single bowl with strikingly identical small 'oil-spot' from the Ryoko-in Temple, Kyoto, illustrated in Chugoku no toji: Temmoku, Tokyo, 1999, pl. 24; and a single bowl from the collection of Hirota Matsushige, published in the Illustrated Catalogues of Tokyo National Museum: Chinese Ceramics I, Tokyo, 1988, pl. 610. An oil-spot shallow bowl attributed to Shanxi in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Porcelain of the Song Dynasty, Vol. 1, Hong Kong, 1996, pl. 204.