Summary

The hardcover catalogue comprises two volumes, compiling all works from the exhibition Beauty & Entirety: Ceramics of the Song Dynasty from the Palace Museum which showed ceramic works from both imperial kilns and folk kilns of the Northern and Southern Song dynasties in two sections, namely ‘Imperial Elegance’ and ‘Poetic Fancy of The Folks’. The Northern and Southern Song periods represent the era of the highest degree of creativity in the ceramic arts history of China: ceramic ware produced by folk kilns and imperial kilns contribute to the complete picture of ceramic culture in the Song dynasty. The exhibits, in simple and graceful designs, range from daily necessities to stationeries, including bowls, plates, pots, jars, pillows, boxes, incense burners and brush washers. Also, a soft-cover supplementary catalogue provides readers contents such as theses, captions, introduction of different kilns and a list of emperors of the Song dynasty.