A Cizhou partridge-feather russet-splashed black-glazed jar Northern Song – Jin dynasty | 北宋至金 磁州黑地鏽斑罐

It is rare to find a black-glazed jar of this form and with such striking splashed abstract decoration. Dark wares of similar form were more often found with painted decoration of birds or plants; those featuring purely abstract brushwork such as this are rare. The russet brushstrokes on this jar not only have a strong calligraphic quality that would have appealed to the literati of the time, but also have an abstract element that gives this vessel a strikingly contemporary feel. The bold russet splashes contrast against the even blackish-brown glaze, creating a mottled effect often referred to as zhegu ban, or ‘partridge-feather mottling’. The size of the mottles began as small flecks and grew during the eleventh century. The generous application of russet by fingertips or brush is emblematic of its era, and the irregular yet well-controlled splashes of even tone make this jar an exceptional specimen of Cizhou ware. The well potted guan shape makes this jar even rarer among russet-splashed wares, with the glaze ending neatly at the lower body in typical late Song Cizhou fashion.

Kilns in Northern China, especially those in Henan, Hebei, and Shandong provinces, were particularly active in producing black wares. Since around the twelfth century, potters had begun to add painted decoration on dark-glazed vessels, both in the form of representational designs and more abstract markings. Painted with simple spots or strokes that favor elegance over extravagance, these wares possess a minimalistic beauty that aligned very closely with the aesthetics of the time.

A larger vase with similar smaller rust-brown splashes, from the Alfred Schoenlicht and later the Marianne Landau collection, was sold in our London rooms, 13th December 1955, lot 20, and included in the exhibition Song Chinese Ceramics: 10th to 13th Century, Eskenazi, London, 2003, cat. no. 7 See also a splashed vase of this type published Mayuyama: Seventy Years, vol. 1, Tokyo, 1976, pl. 563, and a vase sold in our London rooms, 9th June 2004, lot 163.