'Peony jar', Northern Song dynasty, 1100-1150.  Cizhou kilns, north China. Stoneware with white slip and glazed. Height: 5.7 cm. P.H.D.S. Wikramaratna Gift, in memory of his wife Nancy. Museum no. FE.32-1985 [2007] © V&A Images

Cizhou is a term used to describe a variety of ceramics made in northern China during the Song dynasty (960-1279). Cizhou wares were popular wares, made for everyday use, and so were much more free-spirited in form and surface design than the wares made at the imperial kilns for the very elite, which tended to be more focused on the perfection of the form and firing process. 

This jar, in the form of a peony, is typical of Cizhou ware in its stoneware body given an even colour through the use of a white slip (a thinned firing clay spread over the surface, which gives opaque, even colour).

Bibliographic References: Kerr, Rose. Song Dynasty Ceramics. London:V&A Publications, 2004. p. 69, no. 66.