Lot 5026. A rare Jizhou reverse-painted 'lion' vase, Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279); 20.7 cm. Lot sold: 352,800 HKD (Estimate: 200,000 - 300,000 HKD). © Sotheby's 2021

Note: Boldly painted in swift brushwork with pairs of whimsical Buddhist lions amidst continuous scrolls of lotus and furled leaves, the present vase is particularly notable for its black-coffee brown glaze that provides a striking contrast with the decoration in white reserve. See a Southern Song Jizhou meiping decorated with a related white lotus pattern against a black background, excavated from Chaohu, Anhui, now preserved in the Anhui Museum, illustrated in Zhongguo taoci shi [History of Chinese ceramics], Beijing, 1982, reprint 2006, col. pl. 19. Compare also a bottle vase decorated with lotus from the Meiyintang collection, illustrated in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, London, 1994-2010, Vol. I, pl. 520. 

Sotheby's. Echoes of Fragrance – Evolution of Tea Culture from the Tang to the Qing Dynasties, Hong Kong, 16 December 2021