Dark Brown Glazed Cizhou Jar

The deep, rounded sides are carved through the brown glaze with a broad band of a repeated geometric pattern below a double line border and above a single line border.

Craftsmen at the Cizhou kilns experimented with novel techniques of decoration that resulted in a new aesthetic vision, visible here with its contrasting colours and bold carving decoration. The craftsman shaped the small jar on a potter’s wheel and allowed it to dry, then to the exterior, he applied a thick layer of white slip to about two thirds of the jar from just below the mouthrim leaving the bottom one third exposed. Once the white slip dried, the potter applied a dark brown glaze to the interior and exterior of the jar covering the white slip and allowed the brown glaze to stabilize. The potter then carved away the brown glaze to expose the underlying white slip to create his desired design. Also known as ‘sgraffiato’ this technique was pioneered and mastered at the Cizhou kiln site.

• A similar sized jar but with a different design is in the Asmolean Musuem, Oxford Collection. Accession Number: EA1956.1307.

Provenance:
– Private Japanese collection.
– Kusaka Shogado, Tokyo, Japan.