A rare Cizhou painted green-glazed 'peony' vase, Song - Jin dynasty | 宋至金　磁州窰綠釉墨彩牡丹紋卷口瓶

A Japanese private collection.

Kochukyo Co., Ltd, Tokyo.

This vase belongs to a small group of Cizhou wares decorated with a black floral design under a green glaze. Vessels of this type appear to have been a specialty of the celebrated Guantai kilns, Cixian, Hebei province, around the late Northern Song (960-1127) and early Jin (1115-1234) dynasties. Coloured with copper pigments, this rare glazing represents one of the earliest examples of low-fired enamelling on high-fired stoneware and was one of very few bright colours available at the time of production. Very similar fragmentary vases of this type have been recovered directly from the Guantai kiln site, see Guantai Cizhou yaozhi / The Cizhou Kiln Site at Guantai, Beijing, 1997, pl. 70:1; and Haku to koku no kyōen/Charm of Black and White Ware: Transition of Cizhou Type Wares, Osaka Municipal Museum of Art, Osaka, 2002, cat. nos 11-1 and 11-2; as well as similar examples of this design found in the more conventional white-ground colouration without the addition of low-fired green. Compare fragments of the latter type in op. cit., Beijing, 1997, col. pl. 9:2; pl. 13:3 (centre); pl. 23:1 and 2; and p. 123, fig. 52:1 and 4; and op. cit., Osaka, 2002, cat. nos 71- and 71-2.

The present rare Cizhou variety is much coveted by collectors, still preserving in its decoration the vitality and creativity of its ancient maker, brought to life by the lively green glaze. Compare a similar green-glazed vase preserved in the Palace Museum, Beijing in Geng Baochang, ed., Gugong Bowuyuan cang gu taoci ciliao xuancui [Selection of ancient ceramic material from the Palace Museum], Beijing, 2005, vol. 1, pl. 58, attributed to the Song dynasty; another in the Fondation Baur, Geneva illustrated in John Ayers, The Baur Collection Geneva: Chinese Ceramics, Geneva, 1968-74, vol. I, pl. A 78; a third vase included in the Osaka Municipal Museum exhibition, op. cit., Osaka 2002, cat. no. 108, and again in Xian shi yu ya qi. Taihua Guxuan cang Song Yuan zhenpin / Graces of Song Wares. Treasures from PT Collection, Beijing, 2019, vol. 1, p. 67, fig. 80:2, where Qin Dashu discusses Cizhou vases of this type and attributes the Osaka piece to the Jin dynasty.

Vases of this type also include one in the Meiyintang Collection, illustrated in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics in the Meiyintang Collection, vol. 3, pt. II, London, 2006, pl. 1541; one from the Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, included in the exhibition Freedom of Clay and Brush through Seven Centuries in Northern China: Tz'u-chou Type Wares, 960-1600AD, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, 1980, cat. no. 95; a third sold in these rooms, 28th November 2018, lot 631; and a fourth sold in our London rooms, 1st November 2023, lot 179.

來源

日本私人收藏

壺中居，東京

此瓶屬磁州窰罕見品種，其以黑色花卉紋飾於綠釉下裝飾，釉色以銅料為著色劑，為當時少數可用明亮顏色之一，釉層薄而透明，色澤清新脫俗。此類綠釉裝飾為高溫燒製陶胎器上運用低溫彩釉之早期實例，技術上堪稱創新典範，且推測為河北磁縣觀台窰於宋晚期（960-1127）至金早期（1115-1234）所製。

觀台窰址曾出土多件與本品相似之殘片，見《觀台磁州窰址》，北京，1997年，圖版70:1；以及《特別展白と黒の競演 －中國・磁州窯系陶器の世界》，大阪市立美術館，2002年，圖錄編號11-1及11-2。另有以傳統白地色彩而非綠釉裝飾之類似設計，相關殘片刊於前述北京1997年出版，彩圖版9:2、圖版13:3（中）、圖版23:1及23:2，以及第123頁，圖52:1及4；及前述大阪2002年出版，圖錄編號71-1及71-2。

磁州窰此類品種以綠釉效果生動再現古代匠人之創意與技巧，深受藏家青睞。例如，北京故宮博物院藏一件相似綠釉瓶，見耿寶昌編，《故宮博物院藏古陶瓷資料選粹》，北京，2005年，卷一，圖版58，定為宋代；日內瓦包爾基金會藏另一例，見John Ayers，《日內瓦包爾收藏：中國陶瓷》，日內瓦，1968-74年，卷一，圖版A 78；以及大阪市立美術館展出之一例，見前述大阪2002年出版，圖錄編號108，此瓶亦著錄於《閑事與雅器：泰華古軒藏宋元珍品》，北京，2019年，卷一，第67頁，圖80:2，其中秦大樹將此瓶定為金代。

此類瓶亦見於其他重要收藏，例如梅茵堂收藏，載於Regina Krahl，《梅茵堂藏中國陶瓷》，卷三（二），倫敦，2006年，圖版1541；哈佛藝術博物館藏品，曾參展《Freedom of Clay and Brush through Seven Centuries in Northern China》，印第安納波利斯藝術博物館，1980年，圖錄編號95；以及兩件，分別售於香港蘇富比2018年11月28日拍品編號631，及倫敦蘇富比2023年11月1日，拍品編號179。