Two miniature qingbai porcelain vases

Two miniature porcelain vases of double gourd form, the lower, larger lobe moulded with a pattern of evenly spaced, raised dots.  The upper, smaller lobe is moulded with a band of leaves.  The exterior of the vases is covered in a pale blue glaze that stops just short of the slightly recessed base, revealing a fine white porcelain body underneath.

•  The double gourd form would appear to be rare in qingbai porcelain. A miniature white stoneware double gourd vase of ding type is in the Kempe collection at the Ostasiatiska Museet in Stockholm.  A miniature qingbai ewer of double gourd form with moulded decoration was excavated from a tomb datable to 1165 AD in Dexing City, Jiangxi province.2

1. Tregaer, M. Song Ceramics, Thames and Hudson, London 1982, no. 71, p. 69
2. Peng S. (ed.) Dated Qingbai Wares of the Song and Yuan dynasties Hong Kong 1998, no. 52, p. 63