JIN DYNASTY (1115-1234)

Details

A CIZHOU-TYPE BROWN-PAINTED BLACK-GLAZED OVOID BOTTLE, XIAOKOU PING
JIN DYNASTY (1115-1234)
The broad, high-shouldered body is freely painted in russet brown slip on two sides with a large flower, perhaps suggesting an iris or a lily, that has fired matte in contrast to the lustrous blackish-brown glaze that covers the body and the small, waisted mouth. The base is covered in a thinner wash of the blackish-brown glaze.
9 in. (23 cm.) high, Japanese wood box

Provenance

Private collection, Japan.

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Lot Essay

Ovoid jars of this type, with these distinctive small, ringed mouths, are termed xiaokou ping (small-mouthed bottles) and were probably sealed with a fabric-wrapped wooden dowel and used for storing wine and other liquids. Typically dark-glazed, such bottles are often painted in russet or rust-brown slip with abstract floral decoration or designs suggestive of birds in flight, rendered in vigorous, calligraphic strokes. A bottle of this type, painted distinctly with stems of chrysanthemum, from the collection of Robert E. Barron III, M.D., was sold at Christie's New York, 30 March 2005, lot 303.

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