A SMALL WHITE GLAZED DINGYAO FIGURE OF A SEATED BOY HOLDING A DOLL, NORTHERN SONG DYNASTY

拍品描述

A SMALL WHITE GLAZED DINGYAO FIGURE OF A SEATED BOY HOLDING A DOLL, NORTHERN SONG DYNASTY China, Hebei Province, 960-1127. Finely potted, the boy seated with his feet pressed together, dressed in loose-fitting robes with finely detailed folds, secured at the waist with a sash, and wearing a tall headdress. He holds a small doll against his chest in his left hand, while his right hand rests upon his thigh. The chubby face of the young with a stern expression, distinguished by small eyes beneath gently arched brows, a flat nose, and full lips, flanked by small ears. Dimensions: Height 6.0 cm Several ceramic figures of a mother, a child or a mother with child, produced during the Song, Jin and Yuan periods, display evidence of deliberate dismemberment of the head. Koos de Jong and other scholars have noted similar practices in Southeast Asia during earlier and contemporaneous periods, particularly in Burma and Thailand, where the ritual decapitation and burial of ceramic figurines depicting nursing mothers with children was likely intended to protect pregnant women and prevent miscarriage or stillbirth. It is purported that the Chinese specimens fulfilled a similar function. Literature comparison: Compare a closely related white glazed ding ware figure of a girl with a doll, China, Hebei province, early Song to early Liao dynasty, dated 10th-11th century, 6.5 cm high, illustrated in: Koos de Jong, Small China: Early Chinese Miniatures, 2021, p. 62, no. 37.

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