356.
A ‘GE TYPE’ CRACKLED-GLAZED BOWL
Qing dynasty, 18th century
6 x 13,5 cm
Provenance: Naples, Villa della Floridiana, Museo Duca di Martina, Placido de Sangro (1829-1891) collection.
inv. n. 5184.
Supported on a circular base, the rounded walls rising to a splayed rim, the external surface covered with a greyish glaze densely crackled with dark brown lines, the unglazed base showing the fired brown ceramic.
This bowl exemplifies an eighteenth century production explicitly inspired by the pottery made in kilns near Hangzhou during the Northern Song dynasty, explicitly destined to the imperial court and characterized by a more or less large mesh craquelure freely arranged on the whole surface. with an effect that in some ways recalls the natural variegation of jade, the material most admired by the Chinese cultural élite.
This last feature constituted the identifying element of the wares known in texts from the Ming dynasty with the names of Guan and Ge, two of the “Five Famous Ware of the Song” (wu daming ci), together with Ru, Ding and Jun pottery.
Although there are still gaps in the historical reconstruction of this Song dynasty ware, the kilns active in the eighteenth century created pieces explicitly inspired by that production so admired by connoisseurs of the time, including the Yongzheng and Qianlong emperors.
