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Lot Essay
The present lot belongs to a family of Cizhou pillows in the form of recumbent tigers, variously decorated with birds, flowers, and animals. Animal-form pillows were believed to promote the birth of sons and protect against evil, which is discussed by T. Mikami in Chinese Ceramic Pillows from Yeung Wing Tak Collection, The Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka, 1984, p. 18.
Note the fine detail of the tiger’s fur and unusual marbled decoration. Compare a smaller example (36 cm.) in the Complete Treasures of the Palace Museum: Porcelain of the Song Dynasty (I), vol. 32, Hong Kong, 1996, p. 232, no. 209, and a slightly larger example (39.3 cm.) decorated with marbled rocks and birds held in the Chazen Museum of Art, University of Wisconsin-Madison, accession no. 2010.23 and exhibited and published in Kaikodo, “Honored Guests”, Kaikodo Journal XXVI, New York, 18 March – 8 April 2010, pp. 120-121 and 196-197, fig. 54. The same article illustrates a further example unearthed in Zhangtai city, Shanxi, which is inscribed by the maker and dated to the 3rd year of Zhenyuan reign, corresponding to 1155.
A number of these pillows are held in distinguished private and museum collections, including one from the Avery Brundage collection, held in the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, illustrated by M. Tregear, Song Ceramics, New York, 1982,
p. 82, no. 79. Compare also those published in Chinese Ceramic Pillows from Yeung Wing Tak Collection, The Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka, 1984, nos. 80-85.
Note the fine detail of the tiger’s fur and unusual marbled decoration. Compare a smaller example (36 cm.) in the Complete Treasures of the Palace Museum: Porcelain of the Song Dynasty (I), vol. 32, Hong Kong, 1996, p. 232, no. 209, and a slightly larger example (39.3 cm.) decorated with marbled rocks and birds held in the Chazen Museum of Art, University of Wisconsin-Madison, accession no. 2010.23 and exhibited and published in Kaikodo, “Honored Guests”, Kaikodo Journal XXVI, New York, 18 March – 8 April 2010, pp. 120-121 and 196-197, fig. 54. The same article illustrates a further example unearthed in Zhangtai city, Shanxi, which is inscribed by the maker and dated to the 3rd year of Zhenyuan reign, corresponding to 1155.
A number of these pillows are held in distinguished private and museum collections, including one from the Avery Brundage collection, held in the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, illustrated by M. Tregear, Song Ceramics, New York, 1982,
p. 82, no. 79. Compare also those published in Chinese Ceramic Pillows from Yeung Wing Tak Collection, The Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka, 1984, nos. 80-85.