TWO CIZHOU PAINTED PILLOWS

SONG AND JIN DYNASTIES

Details

TWO CIZHOU PAINTED PILLOWS
Song and Jin Dynasties
One of bean shape, the slightly dished top painted in blackish brown with the characters, He Jia Sui He, within a rectangular panel surrounded by a decorative border flanked at the ends by foliate scroll, within linear borders and carved through an ivory slip, all under a clear glaze, with a vent hole in the flat base; the other of tiger form, the details of the recumbent beast painted in blackish brown, pale orange and cream and the bean-shaped top painted in the same palette with a flowering plant and tufts of grass, all under a clear glaze, the nostrils pierced
10½ and 14½in. (26.7 and 36.8cm.) long (2)

Lot Essay

The four-character inscription painted on the first pillow may be translated, "A united family brings harmony"

The tiger-form pillow is similar to others painted on top with various motifs which have been published. Several are illustrated in Chinese Ceramic Pillows, The Mr. and Mrs. Yeung Wing Tak Gift, Hong Kong, 1993, nos. 117-122, and are now in the Museum of the Western Tomb of the Nanyue King, Guangzhou