Ding ware

They were produced between the Tang and Yuan dynasties of imperial China, though their finest period was in the 11th century, under the Northern Song.

"[2] The most characteristic wares are thin porcelains with a white or greyish body and a nearly transparent white-tinted glaze,[3] though they are classed as stoneware by some.

A key event in this process was the flight of the remaining Northern Song court to the south, after they lost control of the north in the disastrous Jin-Song wars of the 1120s.

Earlier, pre-Song, pieces had a blueish tint as (like Xing ware) they were fired with wood, producing a reducing atmosphere.

[9] Other "secondary" wares had monochrome glazes in different colours:[10] a very rare black, various shades of red and brown, gold and green.

[14] Pieces produced in Ding ware were mostly open vessels of a relatively small size, with shapes and decoration often borrowed from metalwork, as in the bowls with lobed rims.

A chronicle records that "the king went to pay his respects at the Zongde Dian and offered up 2,000 pieces of Ding ware decorated with gold",[21] but other records suggest that the rough rims and "teardrops" formed by running glaze meant that they were not considered fine enough for use by the emperor himself, or at least had become so regarded by the late Southern Song.

There was renewed borrowing from T'ang decoration in silver, lacquer and stone, and from metalware shapes, such as lobed or notched rims to bowls and plates.