The cracks on this dish, made to resemble the accidental cracks that sometimes occurred during the firing of ceramics, are deliberate. The piece is an example of ceramics produced in south China near the Southern Song capital of Hangzhou to re-create imperial wares produced earlier in the north: delicate cracks, sometimes known as crazing, are one of the hallmarks of the famed, and rare, Ru ware produced for the Northern Song court.
