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Plate with Molded Decoration
Song dynasty (960-1279)
Ding ware with copper rim
Ella M. Hirsch Fund
38.38

This elegant, thinly potted plate is an example of a type of ware that is known to have been much prized by the Northern Song court and its successors in the Jin dynasty. The design of peony flowers surrounded by dense foliage that fills the inner surface was mold-impressed into the fragile porcelain body. The entire piece, except for the rim, was then covered with a transparent ivory glaze before being fired at 1250-1300 degrees centigrade. During firing, the plate was placed in a stepped stoneware container known as a saggar, with other plates below and/or above it, resting face-down on its unglazed rim to prevent sticking. This method allowed more vessels to be fired in a smaller amount of space than other methods, while also providing better support for the unfired piece than if it had been placed on its foot, as was usually done in other kilns. In most cases, as here, the rim was subsequently capped with soft copper, the dull metal setting off the warmth of the translucent glaze. Ding ware derives its name from the Song dynasty designation for the region in which it was produced, situated some 130 miles southwest of Beijing in present-day Hebei Province.