A rare sgraffiato Cizhou-type meiping, Northern Song dynasty. Estimate  400,000 — 600,000 HKD. Unsold. Photo courtesy Sotheby's

of tall ovoid form surmounted by a short constricted neck and conical mouth, the body with a broad central register of trellis superimposed on large interlinked cash, between a stylised foliate scroll on the rounded shoulder and a band of lappets enclosing trefoils around the foot, all against a 'fish-roe' ground, the decoration all piercing the cream-coloured slip to show the greyish-brown body beneath, covered with a clear glaze; 39 cm., 15 3/8  in.

Provenance: Sotheby's London, 9th June 1992, lot 134.

Notes: A similar meiping carved with a foliate scroll, a cash-diaper design and a petal border, but lacking the floral sprigs around the foot was included in the exhibition catalogue Freedom of Clay and Brush through Seven Centuries in Northern China: Tz'u-chou Type Wares, 960-1600 A.D., 1980, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, cat. no. 27, where it is attributed to the Northern Song dynasty.

Sotheby's. Contemporary Literati: Curiosity, Hong Kong, 05 avr. 2015