A Sky Blue-glazed ZHANG GONG XIANG Bowl

With a plump rim and a round opening, a bulging belly and a short round foot ring, the bowl is fully applied with a thin layer of sky-blue glaze which runs thinner at the rim and presents an ethereal azure blue colour with a hint of green; the glaze is vitrificated to a semi-transparent texture with small crackles all over the body, leaving the biscuit below partially visible; the foot ring is also covered in glaze, except for the carefully trimmed greyish white biscuit at the bottom.

Based on the discovery of archaeological excavation, kiln ZHANG GONG XIANG exclusively produced celadon-glazed porcelain wares, with light, refined and solid biscuit of pinkish white, greyish white or seldom pure white and light grey colours, and applied with a thin and transparent layer of light greyish blue, celadon green, or seldom sky blue glaze. The site originally established in the late Northern Song Dynasty after the kiln RU, can almost equal RU wares in terms of glaze colour and modeling form, which is perfectly demonstrated by this bowl. Moreover, regarding to the form of foot ring, wares from kiln ZHANG are mostly made with straight foot, while ones from kiln RU largely with splayed foot.