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Lot Essay
First appearing in the late 12th to early 13th century, Cizhou polychrome decoration represents the earliest overglaze enamelling in Chinese ceramic history. This technique entails two firings. On pieces like the present bowl, a milky-white slip was applied to the clay body and a colourless transparent glaze was applied over the top. Lead-fluxed overglaze enamels were applied to the surface of the fired glaze and the vessel was fired a second time at a lower temperature. The Chinese term of Cizhou polychrome wares, honglü cai (red and green colours) is derived from the most popular overglaze colours in the Cizhou palette, green and red.
Popular decorative themes on Cizhou polychrome bowls include floral patterns and aquatic scenes. A similar ‘fish’ bowl in the collection of Sekido Museum of Art, classified as an Important Art Object, is illustrated in Asahi Shimbun, Song Ceramics, Tokyo, 1999, p. 147, no. 108 (fig.1). Compare a dated example decorated with waterfowl flying amidst lotus and inscribed with the date, first year of the Taihe reign (1201) from the Ataka collection, illustrated in Masterpieces of Old Chinese Ceramics from Ataka Collection, Osaka, 1972, Catalogue, no. 42. Compare also a bowl with mandarin duck pattern in the Tokyo National Museum collection, illustrated in T. Mikami, Sekai Toji Zenshu, vol. 13, Tokyo, 1981, p. 242, no. 273. A more frequently used decorative theme seen on Cizhou polychrome bowls is peony spray, as seen on a bowl illustrated in Sekai Toji Zenshu, op. cit., p. 242, no. 271, and another three Cizhou polychrome bowls in the Ataka collection, illustrated in Masterpieces of Old Chinese Ceramics from Ataka Collection, op. cit., Catalogue, no. 40,41,43.
Popular decorative themes on Cizhou polychrome bowls include floral patterns and aquatic scenes. A similar ‘fish’ bowl in the collection of Sekido Museum of Art, classified as an Important Art Object, is illustrated in Asahi Shimbun, Song Ceramics, Tokyo, 1999, p. 147, no. 108 (fig.1). Compare a dated example decorated with waterfowl flying amidst lotus and inscribed with the date, first year of the Taihe reign (1201) from the Ataka collection, illustrated in Masterpieces of Old Chinese Ceramics from Ataka Collection, Osaka, 1972, Catalogue, no. 42. Compare also a bowl with mandarin duck pattern in the Tokyo National Museum collection, illustrated in T. Mikami, Sekai Toji Zenshu, vol. 13, Tokyo, 1981, p. 242, no. 273. A more frequently used decorative theme seen on Cizhou polychrome bowls is peony spray, as seen on a bowl illustrated in Sekai Toji Zenshu, op. cit., p. 242, no. 271, and another three Cizhou polychrome bowls in the Ataka collection, illustrated in Masterpieces of Old Chinese Ceramics from Ataka Collection, op. cit., Catalogue, no. 40,41,43.