Lot 643. A 'Cizhou' sgraffiato bottle vase, Yuan dynasty (1279-1368). Height 7 7/8 in., 20 cm. Estimate: US$6,000 - US$8,000. Lot Sold 9,375 USD. Courtesy Sotheby's.
the broad, teardrop-shaped body supported on a straight foot and rising to a waisted neck and flaring rim, the body covered in cream-colored glaze cut away leaving three registers of scrolling foliate stems issuing lush peony blossoms all reserved against a taupe-glazed ground, classic scroll bands dividing the 'floral' registers, the rim and interior of the mouth glazed white, the stout foot unglazed revealing the buff-colored body, Japanese wood box.
Provenance: English Private Collection, acquired in the 1930s.
Note: The present vase is strikingly similar in form and technique to a Yuan dynasty Cizhou sgraffiato 'floral' yuhuchun vase published in Seikai toji zenshu [Ceramic art of the world]: 13 Ryou Kin Gen [13 Liao, Jin, Yuan], Tokyo, 1981, pl. 263; and an example in the collection of the Toguri Museum carved with a 'phoenix' design, published in Chūgoku tōji meihin zuroku / Chinese Ceramics in the Toguri Collection, Toguri Art Museum, Tokyo, 1988, cat. no. 58.
Sotheby's. Important Chinese Art, New York, 20 march 2019
