This green glazed cup is hard to determine exactly. It is 6,5 cm high, and has a diameter of 12 cm. The shape is a flower cup shape, which derives from silver or lacquer wares. Some say it could be a ewer warmer. It is made from a light brown clay, and is high fired. The walls are thin, but the base is quite heavy. The petals are cut by hand. The glaze has an amazing crazing to it, and it is colored orange/brown in the cracks. It is a transparent green, with a glassy look.

The dating is likely Song dynasty, expert opinions place it in the Northern Song, as early as the year 1000 AD. The question is; is it Yaozhou ware or not. The inside of the footrim is a-typical for Yaozhou, because they normally have a thin straight rim(a lot of them glaze on the inside). Also the crazing, which I like, is not typical Yaozhou.

The opinion amongst a few knowledgeable people is that it is a piece from Jingdezhen kilns. The Yaozhou kilns produced so much different wares, that a piece looking a bit a-typical is logical.

 The Ashmolean museum has a similar piece with the same crazing in the glaze; Accession no.EA1956.249. So I now describe it as Yaozhou or Yaozhou- related.