Ge ware, together with Guan, Ru, Ding, and Jun wares, constitutes the group known as the “Five Great Wares of the Song Dynasty.” The distinction between the two crackled wares, Guan and Ge, has long been debated. At a 1992 conference held at the Shanghai Museum, the topic was discussed extensively, and although no consensus was reached, it was generally accepted that wares exhibiting the jinsi tiexian (“gold thread and iron wire”) crackle pattern should be classified as Ge ware. See R. Scott, Guan or Ge Ware?, Oriental Art, Summer 1993, pp. 12–23.

Recent archaeological research suggests that Ge ware may have been produced at kilns in Chuzhou, near the Longquan production center, or possibly just outside the walls of the Southern Song palace in Hangzhou. Scholars concur that Ge ware embodies the refined aesthetic and technical qualities associated with vessels made for imperial appreciation.

Square-form Ge brush washers from the Song and Yuan dynasties are exceptionally rare. A Ge cinquefoil brush washer, dated to the Yuan–Ming period, was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 27 November 2013, lot 3279. Another example, circular in form and dated to the Yuan dynasty (14th century), is preserved in the Qing Court Collection and published in National Palace Museum, Precious as the Morning Star: 12th–14th Century Celadons in the Qing Court Collection, p. 275, no. IV-34.