Page 163 - Christie's Hong Kong May 31, 2017 Important Chinese Ceramics and Art

VARIOUS PROPERTIES

3128

A JIZHOU RESIST-DECORATED ‘PHOENIX’ VASE,
MEIPING

SOUTHERN SONG DYNASTY (1127-1279)

The vase is resist-decorated on two sides with a pair of phoenix
amidst cloud scrolls that are detailed in brown slip, and reserved
against a dark brown glaze that continues over the lipped mouth
rim and falls to the edge of the foot.
11 in. (28.1 cm.) high, box

HK$600,000-800,000
US$78,000-110,000

The fenghuang, or phoenix, comprises feng, the male and huang,
the female bird. They can be differentiated by their tails; the
male with his segmented into four filaments and the
female with a fanciful scroll for its tail. The phoenix is
an auspicious bird that has traditionally represented
peace and prosperity.

The delicate decoration on this meiping was
produced by first affixing a stencil to the
surface and then immersed foot-first in a dark
brown glaze. When the glaze stabilized, the
stencils were removed to reveal the reserved
designs which were further painted with an
iron-rich slip.

Compare to a similar meiping illustrated
by Robert Mowry, Hare’s Fur, Tortoiseshell,
and Partridge Feathers: Chinese Brown-and
Black-Glazed Ceramics, 400-1400, Harvard
University Art Museums, 1996, pp. 253-5,
no. 103.

南宋
吉州窯黑釉剔鳳凰紋梅瓶

瓶撇口，束頸，豐肩，撇低，圈足。通體施黑
釉，釉色凝厚。器身飾剔一組雙鳳紋，紋飾處露
黃色胎，兩鳳凰首尾相接，以祥雲間隔開來。

參考一件相似例，著錄於Robert D. Mowry著1996
年哈佛大學美術館出版，《Hare’s Fur, Tortoiseshell
and Partridge Feathers: Chinese Brown and Black-
Glazed Ceramics, 400-1400》，頁253-255，圖103。

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