Lot 2823. A large Henan russet-painted black-glazed wine jar, Jin dynasty (1115-1234). Estimate HK$300,000 - HK$500,000 ($38,891 - $64,818). Price Realized HK$300,000 ($38,891). Photo Christie's Image Ltd 2015

The high shouldered body is surmounted by a ribbed neck below an everted mouth rim. It is decorated in bold brush strokes with three abstract phoenix of russet-brown tone, reserved against a black ground that stops above the narrow foot exposing the buff body. 11 1/8 in. (28.2 cm.) high, Japanese wood box

Provenance: Kochukyo, Tokyo

Literature: Christie's, The Classical Age of Chinese Ceramics: An Exhibition of Song Treasures from the Linyushanren Collection, Hong Kong, 2012, pp. 98-99, no. 36

Exhibited: Christie's, The Classical Age of Chinese Ceramics: An Exhibition of Song Treasures from the Linyushanren Collection, Hong Kong, 22 to 27 November 2012; New York, 15 to 20 March 2013; London, 10 to 14 May 2013, Catalogue, no. 36

Notes: Ovoid jars of this type, with this distinctive small, double-ringed mouth, are termed xiaokou ping (small-mouthed bottles), and were probably used for storing wine and other liquids. Typically dark-glazed, such bottles are often painted in russet in this instance decorated with an abstract phoenix design. Birds in flight, or abstract floral decoration, rendered with vigorous, calligraphic strokes, are characteristic of these jars.

A jar of this type, with floral decoration rather than the birds on the shoulder of the present jar, in the collection of Dr. Robert Barron, is illustrated by R.D. Mowry in Hare's Fur, Tortoiseshell, and Partridge Feathers, Cambridge, 1996, p. 165, no. 55, and subsequently sold at Christie's New York, 30 March 2005, lot 303. Compare also a related jar of larger size from the Robert H. Ellsworth Collection, sold at Christie's New York, The Collection Of Robert Hatfield Ellsworth Part I - Masterworks Including Indian, Himalayan And Southeast Asian Works Of Art, Chinese And Japanese Works Of Art, 17 March 2015, lot 19.

A Cizhou russet-decorated black-glazed ovoid bottle, Jin-Yuan dynasty, 13th century, sold $9,600 at Christie's New York, 30 March 2005, lot 303. Photo Christie's Image Ltd 2005

A very rare large Cizhou-type russet-painted black-ground ovoid jar, xiaokou ping, China, Jin-Yuan dynasty, 13th century, sold $665,000 at Christie's New York, The Collection Of Robert Hatfield Ellsworth Part I - Masterworks Including Indian, Himalayan And Southeast Asian Works Of Art, Chinese And Japanese Works Of Art, 17 March 2015, lot 19. Photo Christie's Image Ltd 2005

Christie's. THE CLASSIC AGE OF CHINESE CERAMICS - THE LINYUSHANREN COLLECTION, PART I, 2 December 2015, Convention Hall