The circular dish with curved sides, spreading foot with curved profile, underside with three "sesame seed" spur marks, the pale blue glaze with fine cracqueleur.(Dia: 5 1/4 in.)PROVENANCE:Estate sale, Ashville, North Carolina by reputeAcquired in Raleigh, North Carolina by the present ownerNOTE:Song dynasty Ru wares are considered some the rarest and most desirable of Chinese ceramics, and are among the five classic reknowned wares, together with Guan, Jun, Ding and Ge wares. In 1987, the Qingliangsi kiln site was discovered in Baofeng county, Henan Province, where the wares excavated there appeared to be closely related to those made for the Northern Song court, with examples now preserved in international museums and important collections. Circular brushwashers with curved sides, raised on distinctive curved footring, fully-glazed and with "sesame-seed" firing spur marks, similar in scale and form to the present example, have been excavated from the Qingliangsi kiln site. See "Selection of Ru Ware, the Palace Museum's Collection and Archaeological Excavation", Beijing 2015/2018, pp. 94-95, #29 and pp.148-149, #64 for examples slightly smaller and slightly larger than the present lot, recovered from the Qingliangsi kiln site. See also ibid, p. 52, #11, and pp. 80-81, #22 for two slightly smaller examples in the Shanghai Museum, and pp. 82-83, #23 for a slightly smaller example in the Palace Museum, Beijing.