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Lot Essay
This beautiful polychrome floral bowl was one of the first purchases made by the current owner of the Linyushanren Collection. The exquisite quality of the bowl inspired him to further his knowledge and to create his own comprehensive collection of Song ceramics.
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 colorless transparent glaze was applied over the top and then fired. 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 for Cizhou polychrome wares, honglü cai, is derived from the most popular overglaze colors in the Cizhou palette: red and green.
Popular decorative themes on Cizhou polychrome bowls include floral patterns and aquatic scenes. A similar Cizhou polychrome floral bowl in the Tokyo National Museum is registered in Japan as an Important Art Object, and is illustrated in Oriental Ceramics: the World’s Great Collections, vol. 1: Tokyo National Museum, Tokyo, 1982, no. 103. Other similar examples include the bowl illustrated by T. Mikami, Sekai toji zenshu, vol. 13, Tokyo, 1981, p. 242, no. 271, and three Cizhou polychrome bowls formerly in the Ataka Collection, illustrated in Masterpieces of Old Chinese Ceramics from Ataka Collection, Osaka, 1972, nos. 40,41, and 43.
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 colorless transparent glaze was applied over the top and then fired. 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 for Cizhou polychrome wares, honglü cai, is derived from the most popular overglaze colors in the Cizhou palette: red and green.
Popular decorative themes on Cizhou polychrome bowls include floral patterns and aquatic scenes. A similar Cizhou polychrome floral bowl in the Tokyo National Museum is registered in Japan as an Important Art Object, and is illustrated in Oriental Ceramics: the World’s Great Collections, vol. 1: Tokyo National Museum, Tokyo, 1982, no. 103. Other similar examples include the bowl illustrated by T. Mikami, Sekai toji zenshu, vol. 13, Tokyo, 1981, p. 242, no. 271, and three Cizhou polychrome bowls formerly in the Ataka Collection, illustrated in Masterpieces of Old Chinese Ceramics from Ataka Collection, Osaka, 1972, nos. 40,41, and 43.