A BLUE-GLAZED ‘JUN’ DISH SONG DYNASTY

heavily potted with shallow rounded sides rising from a short tapered foot to a wide everted rim, covered overall in a milky lavender-blue glaze suffused with a network of subtle crackling and thinning to a mushroom tone at the rim, the glaze coagulating unevenly around the neatly cut foot, revealing the buff-orange body

Gurevitch, until 1962.
Bluett & Sons Ltd, London, 1963 (£350).
Collection of Roger Pilkington (1928-69), from 1963 (£750).

Apart from a minute shallow flake to the rim between the 8 and 9 o'clock positions, as visible in the catalogue illustration, the dish is in good condition, with just typical firing imperfections.
"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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

This flat dish represents a classic ‘Jun’ type, although its large size and well-controlled opalescent glaze make it especially notable. Dishes of this shape and covered by a pale blue glaze, are more commonly known of slightly smaller size, such as two dishes with five spur marks on the base in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in A Panorama of Ceramics in the National Palace Museum. Chün Ware, Taipei, 1999, pls. 54 and 55; another published in The Charles B. Hoyt Collection in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Boston, 1964-72, vol. II: Chinese Art: Liao, Sung, and Yüan Dynasties, pl. 54; and a fourth dish included in the exhibition Sodai no tōji [Song ceramics], Idemitsu Museum of Arts, Tokyo, 1979, cat. no. 69.

Further examples sold at auction include one from the collections of E.G. Kostolany and Glenn Allen, sold in our London rooms in 1953 and 1974, in these rooms in 1979, and again in our London rooms, 12th June 2003, lot 110; another from the collections of Mrs Alfred Clark and Edward T. Chow, illustrated in Basil Gray, Early Chinese Pottery and Porcelain, London, 1952, pl.  84, and sold in our London rooms, 16th December 1980, lot 272; and a third dish, from the collections of P. Steiner and G.A. Kolkhorst, sold three times in our London rooms in 1948, 1959 and most recently, 13th June 1989, lot 151.