Lot 97. A large black-glazed 'ribbed' jar, Northern Song-Jin dynasty. Height 11 in., 28 cm. Estimate 15,000 — 20,000 USD. Lot Sold 18,750 USD. Photo: Sotheby's.

of ovoid form rising to a short neck with lipped rim, the body with a series of evenly-spaced raised vertical trails of white slip, a pair of ridged and tapering strap handles on the shoulder, covered overall in a black glaze and thinning to cream color at the raised ribs and stopping well short of the foot revealing a pale brown slip underneath, the interior and base similarly dressed, leaving the broad buff-colored knife-pared footring exposing the body, Japanese wood box (3).

Provenance: Michael B. Weisbrod, New York. 

Note: The attractive ribs adorning this jar were carefully applied in slip onto the surface of the vessel before the application of glaze. During firing the glaze pulled away from the ribs to result in a striking contrast of delicate white lines emerging from a glossy black ground. A similar jar from the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Janos Szekeres was included in the exhibition Hare’s Fur, Tortoiseshell and Partridge Feathers, Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, MA, 1995, cat. no. 61, where it is noted that these ribs were first used on ceramics during the Tang dynasty in imitation of Tang lacquer and silver, and emerged as a decorative category by the 12th century (p. 176).