A SMALL JIZHOU REVERSE-DECORATED 'LOTUS' VASE SOUTHERN SONG DYNASTY |

the pear-shaped body supported on a splayed foot, rising to a long cylindrical neck and a flared rim, boldly painted to the exterior with white lotus flowers, furled leaves and arrowheads reserved on a brown slip, covered overall in a transparent glaze stopping just above the foot

Skilfully painted in swift brushwork with a continuous scroll of lotus, detailed with furled leaves, the present vase is particularly notable for its black-coffee brown glaze that provides a striking contrast with the lotus in white reserve. See a Southern Song Jizhou meiping decorated with a related white lotus pattern against a black background, excavated from Chaohu, Anhui, now preserved in the Anhui Museum, illustrated in Zhongguo taoci shi [History of Chinese ceramics], Beijing, 1982, reprint 2006, col. pl. 19.