A SMALL QINGBAI ‘PEONY’ PORCELAIN DISH China, Northern Song Dynasty (969-1127). The dish with a flat base, straight even sides, the inside with an incised leafy peony spray. The porcelain covered with a creamy light-blue glaze, except for the rim.

Condition: Good condition with several hairlines running up to the rim, glaze pitting and general traces of age and wear.
Provenance: Ming House Hong Kong, 1996. Dr. Koos de Jong, acquired from the above (invoice no longer available). Dr. de Jong is a Dutch art historian and has been privately collecting Chinese art over decades. He has authored hundreds of articles and several books on Dutch fine and decorative arts spanning from the Middle Ages to the modern era. In 2013, he published an extensive study of Chinese riding gear in “Dragon & Horse, Saddle Rugs and Other Horse Tack from China and Beyond”. Between 1976 and 2009 he worked for numerous museums across the Netherlands and was the director of the European Ceramic Work Center in Den Bosch.

Weight: 58.6 g
Dimensions: Diameter 10.5 cm

Auction result comparison: Compare a near identical Qingbai dish, dated to the Northern Song, of slightly larger size (12.1 cm), at Christie’s New York in Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art on 19-20 September 2013, sold for USD 6,875 (part lot).