A LARGE CIZHOU BLACK-GLAZED RIBBED JAR, SONG DYNASTY
China, 12th century. The ovoid form rising from a short spreading foot to a short straight neck with an everted rim flanked by two scrolling handles. The body decorated with narrowly spaced vertical ribs formed by trails of white slip. Covered by a lustrous black glaze that continues beyond the rounded mouth rim towards the inside and thins to pale russet on the ribs and the slip ribs that decorate the tapering strap handles. The interior is covered with a thin transparent glaze of mottled brown tone, as are the lower body and base. The foot remains unglazed, revealing the buff ware.


Provenance
: Hang Tang Cheng, Dragon House, San Francisco, USA, 1990s. A private collection in North America, acquired from the above and thence by descent. With an old collector’s label, manually inscribed ‘N. Song Jin 12 c, Large wide mouth, jar with vertical ribs, 37, two Kaf handle, Northern blackware, Cizhou type, light grey structure, 01-157SL501-5.’ Hang Tang (Hank) Cheng is a well-respected dealer and appraiser of Asian art who ran the famous Dragon House antiques shop in San Francisco, established in 1979. Hank Cheng worked closely with museums, institutions, and auction houses including the Asian Art Museum, Bonhams, and Christie’s.

Condition
: Very good condition with old wear, expected traces of use, and some firing flaws. Few small chips to foot, minor fritting to rim.

Weight: 2,534.5 g
Dimensions: Height 22 cm

With a padded silk box and cover. (2)


Notable for its large, wide-mouthed globular body and its lustrous dark glaze
, the present jar is a remarkable example of Cizhou-type wares produced at numerous kilns in Henan, Hebei and Shandong Provinces in North China during the twelfth century. The attractive ribs were meticulously applied in slip onto the surface of the vessel before the application of the glaze, creating a striking contrast between the raised ridge and the convex areas with the darker glaze.


Dark-glazed, high-fired ceramic vessels were highly regarded as solid, practical wares.
Their production began during the Tang dynasty (618-907) and rapidly spread throughout China. The development of black wares during the Northern Song period (960-1127) appears to have been inspired by contemporaneous plain lacquerware, and different kilns developed their own styles. Ribs made of white slip were first used on ceramics during the Tang dynasty in imitation of lacquer and silver. Later they were added to the exterior body of the vessel during the tenth and eleventh century and ribbing finally emerged as an important tool of decoration in its own right by the twelfth century, also enabling better and safer handling of the vessel itself.


Literature comparison:

Compare a closely related slip ribs and black glaze cizhou jar with handles, dated to the late Northern Song (960-1127)-Jin (1115-1234) dynasty, 12th century, 19.7 cm high, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession number 1997.1.7. Also compare a related large cizhou-type black-glazed ribbed jar, dated to the Northern Song/Jin dynasty, 12th century, 20.6 cm high, at Christie’s New York, 30 March 2005, lot 295. Compare a similar black-glazed ribbed jar, Northern Song to Jin period, in the Arthur M.Sackler Museum, Cambridge MA, is illustrated in Hare's Fur, Tortoiseshell and Partridge Feathers, Cambridge MA, 1995, p. 176, no. 61.


Auction result comparison:

Type: Closely related
Auction: Bonhams London, 18 May 2023, lot 48
Estimate: GBP 15,000 or approx.
EUR 17,500
converted at the time of writing
Description: A black-glazed ‘ribbed’ jar
Expert remark: Note the smaller size (20.3 cm).




宋代磁州窯黑釉瀝線紋雙係罐


中國，十二世紀。唇口，直頸、鼓腹、圈足，雙係耳，施黑釉，腹部均等距離的垂直凸起的瀝線，線條纖細，凸線紋部分呈金黃色。底足部露胎。


來源
：
美國舊金山Hang Tang Cheng，Dragon House，上世紀九十年代；北美私人收藏購於上述藝廊。舊收藏標籤上手寫 ‘N. Song Jin 12 c，Large wid mouth，jar with vertical ribs，37，two Kaf handle，Northern blackware，Cizhou type，light grey structure，01-157SL501-5. Hang Tang (Hank) Cheng 是一位備受尊敬的亞洲藝術品經銷商和鑑定師，他經營著舊金山著名的 Dragon House 古董店，該店成立於 1979 年。Hank Cheng 與亞洲藝術博物館、邦瀚斯和佳士得等博物館、機構和拍賣行密切合作。

品相
：
狀況極好，有磨損、使用痕跡和一些燒製缺陷。腳部幾乎沒有小缺口，邊緣有輕微磨損。

重量：2,534.5 克
尺寸：高 22 厘米

蓋盒内襯絲綢 (2)


此罐造型碩大
，廣口球形，釉色瑩潤，是十二世紀華北河南、河北、山東等地眾多窯爐燒製的磁州窯的典型代表。在施釉之前，瀝線被小心翼翼地塗在器皿表面上，在凸起的脊線和凸出的區域與深色釉料之間形成鮮明的對比。


深色釉、高溫燒製的陶瓷器皿是堅固實用的器皿
。它們的生產始於唐代（618-907）並迅速傳播到中國各地。北宋時期（960-1127）黑瓷的發展似乎受到了同時代素色漆器的啟發，不同的窯爐也發展出了自己的風格。 白泥製成的瀝線最早用於唐代陶瓷上，仿漆、仿銀。後來，在十世紀和十一世紀，它們被添加到容器的外部主體上，到十二世紀，瀝線最終成為一種重要的裝飾工具。


文獻比較：


比較一件非常相近的北宋末期至金代十二世紀磁州黑釉棱線紋雙繫罐，高19.7 釐米，收藏於大都會藝術博物館，館藏編號1997.1.7。比較一件相近的北宋至金代十二世紀磁州黑釉瀝線紋雙係罐，高20.6 釐米，見紐約佳士得，2005年3月30日，lot 295。比較一件的北宋至金代磁州黑釉瀝線紋雙係罐，收藏於哈佛Arthur M.Sackler博物館，見Hare's Fur，《Tortoiseshell and Partridge Feathers》，劍橋，1995年，頁176，編號61。


拍賣結果比較：


形制：非常相近
拍賣：倫敦邦瀚斯，2023年5月18日，lot 48
估價：GBP 15,000（相當於今日
EUR 17,500
）
描述：北宋/金黑釉棱線紋雙繫罐
專家評論：請注意尺寸較小 (20.3 釐米)。