Yue stoneware box in the form of a melon

A stoneware box in the form of a melon, the base and domed cover both moulded into six sections.  The cover has a finial in the form of a naturalistically modelled stalk, and lightly engraved floral decoration to each of the six panels.  The exterior and interior are covered in a greyish green glaze of yue-type.  The slightly recessed base is partly glazed.  In the parts not covered by glaze, the grey stoneware has turned orange.

•  Yue wares originate from kilns in Northern Zhejiang province and are characterised by fine grey stoneware bodies and a grey-green glaze, often with a bluish tinge.  The shapes often echo metal forms and the decoration imitates finely engraved designs found on Tang silver.     Krahl points out that: “Many Yue vessels were intended for the preparation and consumption of tea.”1  This charming little box may well have served as a container for tea leaves or tea powder. A comparable lidded box, unearthed in Yongkang County, Zhejiang province, is in the Zhejiang Provincial Museum.2  A Yue stoneware covered box in the form of three linked melons is in the collection of Simon Kwan.3    

1. Krahl, R. Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, Volume One, Azimuth Editions, London 1994, page 180
2. Ho, Chiumei New Light On Chinese Yue and Longquan Wares, Archaeological Ceramics Found in Eastern and Southern Asia, A.D. 800-1400, University of Hong Kong, 1994, plate 3C, p.20
3. Ho, K.C. Song Ceramics from the Kwan Collection, Hong Kong Museum of Art, 1994, no. 51, pp. 138-9