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Lot Essay
While potters at the Ding, Yaozhou, Ru, and other Song kilns took pride in finishing their wares with subtly hued monochrome glazes, typically applied over incised, carved, or molded decoration, those at the Cizhou kilns explored new techniques of decoration that resulted in a new aesthetic vision, as perfectly demonstrated by this vase with its bold designs and contrasting colors. This new vision, based on decorative effects that rely on contrasting colors, would lay the aesthetic foundations for the development of blue-and-white porcelain in the Yuan dynasty (1279–1368).
Cizhou yuhuchunping decorated in the sgraffiato technique with designs carved through a white slip rather than the more typical dark brown slip are rare. A yuchunping with the same color scheme, decorated with a broad floral-scroll band framed by narrower key-fret and leafy-scroll borders, was sold in Masterpieces of Cizhou Ware: The Linyushanren Collection, Part IV; Christie’s New York, 13 September 2018, lot 826.
The present vase is distinguished not only by its rare color palette but also by the fluidity of its elegant carved decoration. The principal register is populated by lotus blossoms, leaves, and other flowering plants. In traditional Chinese culture the lotus carries rich auspicious associations: it is linked to Buddhism and symbolizes purity, beauty, and harmony. Its various names give rise to rebuses wishing for the continual arrival of illustrious sons, while the visible emergence of the seedpod as the flower opens has long been interpreted as an auspicious sign of fertility and progeny. Interspersed among the lotus blossoms is the arrowhead plant (sagittaria sagittifolia), a symbol of generosity and abundance, particularly in times of scarcity. Encircling the shoulder above is a band of flowering plum. As the first tree to bloom in the New Year, the plum (prunus mume) symbolizes perseverance, purity, and the advent of spring. Its ability to flower from seemingly aged and weathered branches further associates it with vitality and longevity. The Chinese word for plum, mei, is homophonous with the word for eyebrows, and long eyebrows are traditionally regarded as a sign of long life. The plum blossom’s five petals also evoke the Five Blessings: longevity, wealth, health, virtue, and a peaceful death.
The result of The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Yeung Shui Sang Laboratory thermoluminescence test dated 6 April 1992, serial number 0553, is consistent with the dating of this lot.
Cizhou yuhuchunping decorated in the sgraffiato technique with designs carved through a white slip rather than the more typical dark brown slip are rare. A yuchunping with the same color scheme, decorated with a broad floral-scroll band framed by narrower key-fret and leafy-scroll borders, was sold in Masterpieces of Cizhou Ware: The Linyushanren Collection, Part IV; Christie’s New York, 13 September 2018, lot 826.
The present vase is distinguished not only by its rare color palette but also by the fluidity of its elegant carved decoration. The principal register is populated by lotus blossoms, leaves, and other flowering plants. In traditional Chinese culture the lotus carries rich auspicious associations: it is linked to Buddhism and symbolizes purity, beauty, and harmony. Its various names give rise to rebuses wishing for the continual arrival of illustrious sons, while the visible emergence of the seedpod as the flower opens has long been interpreted as an auspicious sign of fertility and progeny. Interspersed among the lotus blossoms is the arrowhead plant (sagittaria sagittifolia), a symbol of generosity and abundance, particularly in times of scarcity. Encircling the shoulder above is a band of flowering plum. As the first tree to bloom in the New Year, the plum (prunus mume) symbolizes perseverance, purity, and the advent of spring. Its ability to flower from seemingly aged and weathered branches further associates it with vitality and longevity. The Chinese word for plum, mei, is homophonous with the word for eyebrows, and long eyebrows are traditionally regarded as a sign of long life. The plum blossom’s five petals also evoke the Five Blessings: longevity, wealth, health, virtue, and a peaceful death.
The result of The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Yeung Shui Sang Laboratory thermoluminescence test dated 6 April 1992, serial number 0553, is consistent with the dating of this lot.