A Fine Chinese Song Dynasty Qingai Porcelain Dish in Kiln Saggar. Excavated from a kiln site in the Jingdezhen area of Jiangxi province. The saggar contains a fine-quality porcelain dish with incised decoration and a foliated rim that is coated in a crackled pale green Qingbai glaze. Some catastrophe has clearly occurred during firing which has caused the dish to overheat, to sag and warp, resulting in the glaze around its entire rim coming into contact with the wall of the saggar and fusing the two together. The bulge in the centre of the dish is due to the firing pad still being in place with the overheated dish collapsing over it. Note also the build up of ash glaze to the outer wall of the saggar; such saggars were used time and time again with the ash glaze becoming thicker and thicker with each firing. Diameter 19.5cm. Song Dynasty (AD 960 – 1279).

Provenance: from the collection of the late Brian Page (1938-2018), the well-known Oriental art and antiques dealer from Brighton.