The interior is carved and combed with a lily spray and other stylised flowers, the exterior is plain, under crackled olive glaze. There is the following note in the sale catalogue from 1953: ‘This individual style would appear to come from a single potworks. An example is illustrated by Honey in The Ceramic Art of China, plate 37b’.

Literature: Anthony du Boulay, ‘Song Dynasty Bowl, 11th Century’, in R. Foster (ed.), Fifty Treasures from Winchester College (London, 2019), pp. 34-35; Anthony du Boulay, The Duberly Collection of Chinese Art at Winchester College (Winchester, 2019), pp. 10-11

Provenance: Bequeathed as part of the Duberly Collection, 1978; purchased by Major Montagu and Lady Eileen Duberly from John Sparks, 11 November 1953 (£150); formerly in the collection of Chester Beatty, sold Sotheby’s, London, 23 October 1953, lot 3

Location: Treasury, Gallery 2