Item No.: 1456
Name: A Guan ware sky-blue-glazed wine cup
Period: Northern Song dynasty
Rim diameter: 11.6 cm
The form follows the gui, a type of Zhou-dynasty bronze ritual vessel. See the accompanying comparison image.
Catalogued as a wine cup, this vessel echoes the form of an ancient bronze gui; the collection includes a comparison image. Its sky-blue glaze gives the archaic outline a visual character distinct from metalwork. The relationship between the scale of a drinking vessel, an inherited form, and a ceramic surface is central to its appeal.