The Tang had designed a new vase for the wine. This bulked container with broad shoulders had a very narrow neck that was easy to clog. This complex form unknown in the Bronze Age was first made of stoneware. It will be developed in porcelain under the Song of the North and then of the South. Its narrow orifice invites to use it as a flower vase and it is known as meiping meaning plum vase.
On September 13 in New York, Sotheby's sells a small Ding meiping 25 cm high, lot 84 estimated $ 500K. It is dated by thermoluminescence from the Northern Song period, 1000 to 900 years ago. This attribution is undoubtedly consistent with the fineness of its carving decorated with peony flowers and foliage.
The reversed positioning of the pieces in the ovens was a puzzle for the Ding potters who could not realize the glaze on the upper rim. The Song meiping coming on sale does not seem to have this defect, either because the positioning of this piece was different from the upside down of bowls and saucers or because it benefited from the technological improvements of the later period.
In any case the extreme rarity of porcelain meiping of such an age testifies that it was still a tour de force at that time.
withdrawn