Covered Bowl

This handsomely shaped lidded bowl with vertical slightly inturned walls was a popular ceramic form during the Song dynasty (960-1279). The type was produced at several kilns in a variety of glazes. The subtle color of this brown glazed ware, called kaki(persimmon) by the Japanese, was derived by a very high content of iron which forms a brown skin on the surface that contrasts with a darker color beneath the surface. The fact that the bowl is glazed down to the base, with the foot and interior also glazed indicates the earlier phase of this ware's manufacture during the Northern Song period (960-1127). The fine hard clay of the body suggests the Yaozhou kiln in Shanxi province as the likely source of manufacture.