Chinese Bowls Proto Porcelain Western Zhou Dynasty 1050-771 Bce / Rare Proto Celadon Ceramics

A pair of stoneware dishes or bowls.
Western Zhou dynasty (approx. 1050-771 BCE). Presumably Wuzhou kiln, Zhejiang province, China.

These very interesting early pieces belong to a group known as proto porcelain or proto celadon, categorized as being the first glazed ceramics from China. Features that identify these important pieces as the product of the Wuzhou Kiln in central western Zhejiang include the dark green shade of the glaze that has been soaked here and there, the S-shaped applications on either side of the handles and the interesting line markings that are cut at the bottom.

Condition: 
Overall good condition - the largest piece with one chip to the mouthrim of ca 1.2 cm wide, the smallest piece with two chips to the mouthrim of ca. 1 cm and 1.5 cm wide and a chip tot the lower part of the handle. 
Firing grits, pitting, glaze blisters and surface scratches but overall in fair condition with no sign of restoration under UV light.

Dimensions (slightly varying)
Height 4.6-4 cm, diameter 10.5-10.3 cm.

Ref:
Compare with a similar piece from the Avery Brundage Collection of Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, object number B60P223. 

The example above was also illustrated in He Li, ‘Chinese Ceramics the New Standard Guide’, p. 65 pl. 28.

Another example with it’s original cover is illustrated in Regina Krahl, ‘Dawn of the Yellow Earth, Ancient Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection’. 
This same example can be found in the book by the same author ‘Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyingtang Collection Volume Three, Part I’, London, 1994, p. 110, pl. 1126.

A similar example in the Shanghai Museum collection is illustrated in Peng Qingyun, ‘Zhongguo wenwu jinghua daquan: Taoci juan (Complete masterpieces of Chinese cultural relics: Ceramics volume)’, p. 187, no 13.

Also see: Wenwu, ‘Ziliao Congkan (Collections of Cultural Materials)’, 1987.8: 709; 1987.5: 38.

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Code: A00489