Ru ware washer

Ru, Ding, Guan, Ge, and Jun are traditionally considered the Five Classic Kilns of the Song dynasty. There are very few examples of Ru ware remaining today. Produced around the beginning of 12th century, there are currently less than 70 pieces of this exceptionally rare porcelain in the world today. Accompanying the washer is a document written by Chen Yuanhui one autumn day in the Bingwu year of the Guangxu period (1906), according to which Chen's father Chen Rui'an had obtained the washer in Liulichang in Beijing. The washer has incised into the glaze at its base a poem composed by the Qianlong emperor in the Jihai year (1779): At Ruzhou the Song house of Zhao, A blue porcelain did decree, With agate powder its glaze colour be. No like artifice Jingdezhen could devise, Emerald–like blue hue made to rise. Chen Rui'an had the inscription removed for fear that the possession of such a piece from the Qing imperial collection might prove to be incriminating. Similar collections can be found in the Taipei Palace Museum and the David Foundation of Chinese Art in London. Simple and elegant in form and with virtually no decoration, Ru ware exemplifies Northern Song court taste at its most refined. The most typical glaze colour is greyish blue with a hint of green. Two variations are egg–shell blue which is less translucent, and sky blue in which there is no hint of green. The crackling in the glaze marks the beginning of this feature in Chinese ceramics, one which was to have a profound effect on later Song wares.