A Qingbai 'floral' cosmetic box and cover, Southern Song dynasty | 南宋 青白釉花式胭脂蓋盒

Usually described as cosmetic boxes, these small containers had a variety of uses. The hexafoil form with raised bands around the rims appears to have been popular in the 11th and 12th centuries. A similarly decorated box, impressed with a four-character mark on the base reading Wangjia zizheng (meaning ‘recorded by the Wang family’), excavated from a tomb dated to 1111 in Poyang county is published in Dated Qingbai Wares of the Song and Yuan Dynasties, Hong Kong, 1998, pl. 29. Another example of similar form but with a stippled ground was sold in our London rooms, 9th November 2018, lot 238.