White-Glazed Boy-Shaped Porcelain Pillow

The white-glazed boy-shaped porcelain pillow was produced by the Ding Kiln in the Northern Song Dynasty. One of the five most famous kilns in ancient China, the Ding Kiln was celebrated for white porcelain.

Porcelain pillows emerged in the Sui Dynasty (581-618), and prevailed in the Tang, Song, and Yuan dynasties. The ancients believed that porcelain pillows could refresh the body and benefit the eyes.

This porcelain pillow features a stout body coated with white glaze and emitting a yellowish ivory luster. It features a lying boy with his back functioning as the pillow surface.

The boy wears a plain vest and a robe embroidered with round flower patterns. He holds an embroidered ball in his right hand, with his arms crossed under his head, and his feet lifting upward. The boy looks innocent, cute, and lifelike. The bed beneath him is engraved with dragon and cloud patterns. The shape, decorative patterns, and lustrous glaze of the pillow all reflect the superb white porcelain firing techniques of the Ding Kiln during the Song Dynasty.

The Palace Museum in Taipei also houses a white-glazed boy-shaped porcelain pillow produced by the Ding Kiln. The bottom of the pillow is engraved with a poem by Emperor Qianlong to exhort himself. The two porcelain pillows are similar in shape, but the clothing patterns are different.

A representative masterpiece in the history of Chinese ceramics, this boy-shaped porcelain pillow is a precious artifact to study the culture, lifestyles, and ceramic art of the Song Dynasty.

白釉孩兒枕

白釉孩兒枕是北宋年間定窯燒制的瓷枕。定窯是中國五大名窯之一，以燒制白瓷聞名。瓷枕最早出現于隋代，盛行于唐、宋、元。古人使用瓷枕，以其能爽身明目、益睛怡神。

這件孩兒枕胎體厚重，通體施白釉，微泛牙黃。孩童俯臥在床榻上，背部作為枕面。他身著素面坎肩、團花紋長袍，雙手環抱墊起頭部，右手持繡球，雙足交叉上翹，天真可愛，生動傳神。身下的床榻刻有螭龍垂云紋。造型、紋飾和溫潤的釉色，均體現出宋代定窯白瓷燒造的高超水平。臺北故宮博物院也藏有一件定窯白釉孩兒枕，底部刻有乾隆皇帝警醒自我的御制詩。兩件瓷枕造型相近，衣著紋飾明顯不同。

這件孩兒枕是中國陶瓷史上的經典之作，是研究宋代文化風俗和陶瓷藝術的珍貴實物。