南宋 吉州鳳凰梅花紋梅瓶

the sides of the gradually flaring body rising to a rounded shoulder and narrow waisted neck with lipped rim, resist-decorated around the exterior with two pairs of phoenix in flight, divided by swirling cloud scrolls and a band of prunus blossoms around the base of the neck and above the foot, all reserved on a rich dark brown slip, the footring unglazed to reveal the pale buff body

The neck has been off at the shoulder and reattached. There are several cracks / breaks to the body which have been restored. The estimate has been revised to 40,000-60,000.
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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

It is extremely rare to find a Jizhou vase of this size with this elaborate phoenix design combined with prunus blossoms, and though no other example of this exact design appear to have been published, this combination is known to exist. See a smaller vase with a highly stylized phoenix design between five-petaled florets in reserve, apparently without painted details, included in the exhibition, So Gen no Bijutsu, Osaka Municipal Art Museum, 1978, Catalogue, no. 1-211. Given the unusually large size of the meiping, the two designs may have been combined to fill up the undecorated space.  See a smaller meiping with the two pairs of phoenix design without the prunus in the collection of the Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Harvard University Art Museums, and illustrated by Robert Mowry in the catalogue for the exhibition, Hare's Fur, Tortoiseshell and Partridge Feathers, Chinese Brown and Black-Glazed Ceramics, 400-1400, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1996, no. 103. Another smaller Jizhou' vase with only the prunus blossoms is illustrated in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, London, vol. 1, 1994, p. 281, pl. 521.  

The dating of this lot is consistent with Oxford thermoluminescence test, P103k27.