A Chinese junyao U-shaped bowl Jin dynasty 1115-1234 AD, with a compressed circular body gently narrowing to the rim, decorated with an unctuous lavender-blue and purple splash glaze, stopping short irregularly of the flaring foot to reveal the grey-brown stoneware, the well unglazed, 11.3cm dia.

Provenance: an English private collection. Purchased from John Sparks Ltd., 1st January 1946, for £275. Previously the collection of the late Dowager Viscountess Harcourt. The original invoice is available.

Cf. Selection of Jun Ware, the Palace Museum's Collection and Archaeological Excavation, p.34, no.5, where a bowl of the same form is illustrated.

Lady Harcourt, Viscountess Harcourt was wife to Lewis Vernon Harcourt, 1st Viscount Harcourt PC (1863-1922). Harcourt was Secretary of State for the Colonies between 1910-15, and was also a trustee for The British Museum, the Wallace Collection, The London Museum and The National Portrait Gallery, where his portrait now hangs. Through the Viscountess, the family also acquired the famous 'Harcourt Emeralds'.