Glazed porcellaneous stoneware dish

Northern Song to Jin period, 12th - 13th century

This dish is a superb example of one of the most refined and sought after ceramics of the Song period - the creamy white Ding wares of North China.  It is decorated with an exceptionally crisp moulded design of a dragon pursuing a flaming pearl amongst clouds.  Three other dishes - two in the Palace Museum, Beijing, and one in the Shanghai Museum - appear to be almost identical and may have emanated from the same mould.