Description
Description: Chinese Cizhou pillow decorated with black peony leaves under a bright turquoise/blue alkaline glaze. In an amber-yellow glazed rectangle on the back, a molded in relief motif of two lions playing with a brocade ball over a peony leaves background. The motif representing happiness.
Alkaline glazed pottery is rare among Chinese ceramics, a type of glaze that has been soon abandoned because of technical issues, especially flaking off, as we have on this pillow. Indeed, as explained by Nigel Wood in “Chinese glazes”, in the Chapter “Alkaline glazes”, at page 216 and 217, under “Cizhou polychrome alkaline glazes” all what we see here is well described:
“While turquoise-glazed porcelains of true imperial quality were being made in China in the mid-14th century the style was expanded to include an inky blue-black as an extra alkaline-glaze colorant. These new blue-black alkaline glazes were used in combination with turquoise-blues and lead-rich amber-yellow glazes to “color in” some vigorous slip-painted designs, produced in the Cizhou manner. These low-firing compositions (probably maturing at about 1000°C) were applied direct to white-slipped soft-fired stone wares. These glazes were sometimes unstable, with a tendency to flake away after firing – although this problem may have had as much to do with a lack of flux in the underlying slips as to difficulties with the glazes themselves.”
About the motif of lion playing with brocade ball, we have found the follow comment about the lion drawn in the last picture, which is on a pillow in a Cambridge’s Museum:
“The lion is an animal that is rarely seen on Sung ceramics, though some examples are found. (I am skipping comments about the lions found more commonly on metal ware of Sui and Tang dynasties, and the typical Chinese lions later represented in pair as guardians of gates, the male being represented with a ball and the female with a cub). When the lion is depicted alone, he is often seen together with an elaborately embroidered ball with attached ribbons; this motif is usually called “Lion pursuing embroidered ball”. The ball may represent the Buddhist precious pearl or jewel. Sometimes two lions are seen with the ball between them in exactly the same way as the dragons with the pearl. On a Chizhou pillow reproduced in the “Baisha Song mu 白沙宋墓 = A Brief Description of the Three Sung Dynasty Tombs Excavated at Pai-sha”, where a note say that the pillow carry the inscription “Felicitousness for the Residence”, we find a running lion which carries in his mouth a ribbon attached to an embroidered ball.”
Dating: Jin/Yuan Dynasty
Size: 34 cm wide
Provenance: Antiquarian market
References: Up to now, among the few examples of Chizou ware glazed with this uncommon type of glaze, we have only seen vases. Never seen a pillow, which usally are decorated with the typical brown of these ceramics.
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