Chinese Song Dynasty Qingbai Porcelain Bowl in Kiln Saggar

A rare opportunity to acquire a Northern Song Dynasty (AD 960 - 1127) kiln saggar still containing its Qingbai porcelain bowl, excavated from a kiln site in the Jingdezhen area of Jiangxi province. This is one of a variety of different Qingbai porcelain wares in saggars, mostly bowls and dishes of varying sizes and patterns, that we were very lucky to be able to acquire some time ago and now offer for sale. 

Northern Song Dynasty Qingbai porcelain was fired individually in saggars (the fireproof clay case) that were stacked on top of each other in the kiln. Firing in kilns was then, of course, not the exact science that it is now, with today's use of electric and gas-fired kilns. If the temperature became too hot the porcelain items could warp and sag, the glaze may run or even a stack of saggars could shift and possibly collapse, resulting in the porcelain items becoming fused to the saggar in which they were being fired. 

These items are invaluable for research purposes as they show us how Song Dynasty ceramics were fired, not only simply placing each item in its saggar, but supporting it within the saggar on a variety of pads. Sometimes porcelain with designs hitherto unknown are also seen. 

The appeal of such items is not only to the academically minded, but also to anyone who appreciates the artistic and decorative nature of these wonderful items

This is a particularly interesting example. The saggar contains a fine-quality thinly-potted porcelain bowl with an incised pattern ,"button" centre, coated in a translucent blueish-green qingbai glaze. Clearly the temperature within the kiln during firing became too high causing the bowl to warp and shift. One side of the bowl has come into contact with the inner wall of the saggar, its glaze fusing the two together, whilst the other side has "curled up". Interestingly there are large accumulations of clinker and thick runs of ash glaze to the outer wall of the saggar. This build up of liquefied ash glaze during firing has seeped into the saggar and run onto the surface of the bowl. Furthermore, to the underside of the saggar are the remains of a second qingbai glazed porcelain bowl, its glaze fusing it to this saggar!

Diameter of saggar 18 cm (7 inches). 

For information: we have had another example of our group of Song Dynasty kiln saggars tested by Oxford Authentications, the ONLY testers of ancient ceramics trusted and accepted by ALL major dealers, auction houses and museums worldwide, and we show their Thermoluminescence Analysis Report for information which confirms the date of manufacture as "between 600 and 1000 years ago". 

Please note that the particular item for sale here has NOT been tested; because of the cost of the TL test it is simply not economic to have every item tested. However, we can arrange for this item to be tested for an additional cost if required.

The actual sagger tested is for sale separately: see stock number MB741.

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