A Cizhou black-painted 'peony' jar, Yuan dynasty 元 磁州白地黑彩牡丹紋罐

Masterfully and calligraphically executed with carved or painted designs in a subdued palette of blacks, browns and cream, Cizhou wares rank amongst the most recognizable of Song dynasty ceramics. Among the most popular subjects were motifs from flora and fauna relating to contemporaneous literati painting. The minimalistic beauty inherent in Cizhou wares aligns closely with the Japanese wabi-sabi aesthetic, centered on the appreciation of transience and imperfection. Wabi-sabi is also intimately connected with the philosophic principles of Zen Buddhism and the tradition of the tea ceremony.

 

A similar Yuan-dynasty example also painted with floral motif and a similar decorative band around the neck is in the Taizhou Museum, illustrated in Wang Qingzheng ed., The Complete Works of Chinese Ceramics, vol. 10, Shanghai, 2000, pl. 114. Compare also a Cizhou jar painted with cranes, in a similar spontaneous painting style as the present lot, from the collection of the Tokugawa Art Museum, published in Osaka Municipal Museum of Art, Charm of Black & White Ware; Transition of Cizhou Type Wares, Osaka, 2002, pl. 3-32. This jar was also used as a mizusashi (water jar) in the tea ceremony, with a similar black lacquer cover.

 

磁州窰具書法韻味，工藝精湛，或用筆繪、或以刀刻，以素雅黑白、棕褐等色為主，乃最典型之宋代瓷器之一，文士以花卉或動物為主，主題多數與同時代文人書畫相關。磁州瓷器造型簡樸，與日本陶瓷美學喜好簡約、素色且常帶不完美之特質甚為相符，而此道又與禪宗佛教哲學及茶道傳統息息相關，互有密切關聯，時至今日，磁州簡約儒雅，與其他宋瓷同樣仍受日本藏家珍愛。

 

對比一例白地黑花，頸部帶有類似裝飾紋的元代磁州罐，錄于汪慶正編，《中國陶瓷全集》，第十冊，上海，2000年，編號114。對比另一件用作水指的磁州瓶，瓶身灑脫自如的鳳紋筆觸與本拍品相似，藏於德川美術館，錄於大阪市立美術館，《白と黒の競演―中国磁州窑系陶器の世界》，大阪，2002年，編號3-32。