Dimensions: Height 16,5 cm Wide 13,4 cm Depth 13,4 cm
Weight: 560 grams

The vase of elegant baluster form, rising from a short, slightly splayed foot to broad shoulders and a gently waisted neck with everted mouth rim. The vessel is covered overall in a lustrous, finely crackled glaze of warm ivory-white tone, stopping neatly above the foot to reveal the characteristic orange-burnt body. The glaze shows subtle pooling in the recesses, creating areas of deeper tone.

This type of yingding ware, produced in northern kilns during the Song dynasty, is celebrated for its restrained form and refined glaze, embodying the aesthetic ideals of simplicity and natural beauty prized in the literati culture of the period.

Literature comparison:
– A closely related yingding vase of similar form is illustrated in The World’s Great Collections: Oriental Ceramics, The British Museum, vol. 5, Tokyo 1981, pl. 123.
– Compare also with examples excavated at Cizhou-type kilns, published in Song Ceramics, C. Little (ed.), London 2009.