A RARE 'JIZHOU' 'PHOENIX' VASE YUAN DYNASTY

the baluster body rising from a slightly spreading foot to a waisted neck and slightly lipped rim, applied with a thick opaque black glaze, reserved on the buff biscuit with two pairs of phoenix circling in the air, one of each with four long tail feathers, the two pairs divided by clouds, the base glazed in black below the foot

Sotheby’s London, 11th December 1990, lot 220. 

This vase is in good condition with the exception of two shallow chips at the foot possibly from firing. There is a fine network of crackle running through the glaze.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Jizhou vases decorated with this elaborate phoenix design are rare, and the present piece is particularly notable for its rich black-coffee brown glaze that provides a striking contrast with the two pairs of phoenix in white reserve. The four birds appear animated with the details of the flowing feathers and eyes painted in swift brushwork. A similar vase, in the Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Harvard University Art Museums, is published in Robert D. Mowry, Hare's Fur, Tortoiseshell and Partridge Feathers, Cambridge, Mass, 1995, pl. 103; another, illustrated in Nuno de Castro, A Ceramica e a Porcelana Chinesas, Porto, 1992, vol. 1, pl. 169, was sold in these rooms, 11^th December 1990, lot 220; a slightly larger meiping was sold in our New York rooms, 17^th March 2015, lot 181; and a smaller example, decorated with a less elaborate design, was sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 4^th December 2015, lot 265. Compare also a meiping of the same shape but decorated with a blossoming prunus branch illustrated in the Complete Collection of Treasures from the Palace Museum. Porcelain of the Song Dynasty (II), Hong Kong, 1996, pl. 217.

Mowry, op. cit., p. 253, notes that this vase is a quintessential Song shape which originated from silver bottles, such as the one recovered from a Song tomb dated to 1195 in Jiangpu county, Jiangsu province, and another recovered amongst the cargo of the Chinese merchant ship that sank off the coast of Sinan, Korea, in the early 1320s. Mowry suggests that the Sinan shipwreck silver bottle, which has straight walls, broad and high-set shoulders, and a waisted neck with a slightly flaring lip, is possibly the closest in form to Jizhou vases of this shape.