A Moulded Ding Ware Hexafoil Bowl Of shallow rounded form, the interior divided into six radiating petals, each panel with a spray of lotus divided and accentuated by vertical ribs, around a central medallion of a freely drawn lotus spray, all under a transparent creamy ivory glaze, the unglazed mouth rim mounted with a metal band. Period: Northern Song (960-1127). Diameter: 20 cm. Records show that not only were Ding bowls used for tea drinking, but that Ding ware was also favoured by esteemed literati in the Song dynasty for its luminous white glaze, which created an attractive contrast with tea colour. A hexafoil bowl with lotus carved in a different style, dating to the Jin dynasty, is in the Beijing Palace Museum Collection, illustrated in Zhongguo taoci quanji – Dingyao, Shanghai, 1981, pl. 90.,