A JIZHOU REVERSE-DECORATED 'LOTUS' MEIPING, SOUTHERN SONG TO YUAN DYNASTY China, 1127-1368. Skillfully painted in swift brushwork with a continuous scroll of lotus, detailed with furled leaves, the present vase is particularly notable for its black-coffee brown glaze that provides a striking contrast with the lotus in white reserve.

Published: Song Ceramics, the Eight Kiln Groups at a Glance, Examples from the Jiyuanshanfang Collection, 2008, page 102. Mentioned in the foreword by Li Zhiyan, Research Fellow at the Beijing Palace Museum, as “an outstanding example demonstrating its bold form, coupled with delicate painting”.

Provenance: The Jiyuanshanfang Collection. A noted American private collector, acquired from the above. The Jiyuanshanfang Collection is currently housed on New York's Upper East Side and was originally founded upon an old family collection. A comprehensive catalog of the collection titled “Song Ceramics: The Eight Kiln Groups” was published in 2008 with a foreword written by Li Zhiyan, Research Fellow at the Beijing Palace Museum. Another contributor to this catalog was Martin Lorber, formerly Director of Sotheby's New York. Jiyuanshanfang's first exhibition was held in 2012 at the Morris Museum in New Jersey. In 2015, Jiyuanshanfang lent early Chinese ceramics to a large-scale exhibition at the Norton Museum of Art in Palm Beach, Florida, titled “High Tea: Glorious Manifestations - East and West”.
Condition: Very good condition with minor wear and firing flaws, few small chips to foot.

Weight: 859.1 g
Dimensions: Height 23.6 cm

Well potted, the rounded sides rising to a slightly waisted neck with a thick lipped rim. Boldly painted to the exterior with a vivid arrangement of lotus flowers and leaves reserved against an opaque glaze of dark brown, framed by line borders at the shoulder and above the foot, the glaze stopping unevenly above the foot, revealing the dark ware.

Literature comparison:
See a closely related Southern Song Jizhou meiping, also decorated with a white lotus pattern against a black background, excavated from Chaohu, Anhui, now preserved in the Anhui Provincial Museum, illustrated in Zhongguo wenwu jinghua daquan, taoci juan, Hong Kong, 1993, p. 290, no. 406. A similar lotus pattern can also be found on a printed textile from a tomb in Fujian whose occupant died in 1243, see Fuzhou Nansong Huangshengmu, Beijing, 1982, p. 125, fig. 91.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Sotheby's Hong Kong, 3 December 2015, lot 229
Price: HKD 400,000 or approx. EUR 55,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A rare 'Jizhou' 'lotus' vase, Southern Song dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the near identical decoration and glaze. Note the different form and slightly smaller size (18.2 cm).

Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie's New York, 24 September 2021, lot 832
Price: USD 27,500 or approx. EUR 28,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A rare painted Jizhou bottle, Southern Song dynasty
Expert remark: Note the closely related form and subject matter. Note that the vase is not reverse-decorated and of slightly smaller size (18.4 cm).



南宋至元代吉州窯黑地白花蓮紋梅瓶
中國，1127-1368年。小口，唇外卷，短頸，溜肩，橢圓形腹，矮圈足。器體輕薄細緻。口、頸部施黑釉，肩以下為蓮花、荷葉及蓮蓬果組成的黑地白花圖案，全器圖案裝飾飽滿，色調柔和富麗。

出版: 《宋瓷八大窯系一覽——吉緣山房藏品》，美國加州，2008年，第 102頁。北京故宮博物院研究員李志延在前言中提到："這是一個展示其大膽的形式，加上精緻的繪畫的傑出例子"。

來源：吉緣山房收藏；美國知名私人收藏購於上述收藏。吉緣山房收藏坐落於紐約上東區，最初建立在一個古老的家庭收藏基礎之上。曾出版過《宋瓷八大窯系一覽——吉緣山房藏品》（美國加州，2008年）一書，北京故宮博物院李知宴做前言 。此畫冊的另一作者為Martin Lorber，紐約蘇富比前經理。吉緣山房收藏的第一個展覽是2012年年在新澤西Morris Museum；2015年年吉緣山房曾給佛羅里達Norton Museum of Art出借過一批中國早期瓷器參加“High Tea: Glorious Manifestations - East and West” 展覽。
品相：狀況極好，輕微磨損和燒製缺陷，足部輕微小磕損。

重量：859.1 克
尺寸：高23.6 厘米

文獻比較：
見一件非常相近的南宋吉州梅瓶，也是黑底白蓮紋，出土於安徽巢湖，現保存在安徽省博物館，圖見《中國文物精華大全— 陶瓷卷》，香港，1993年，第290頁，第406號。類似的蓮花圖案也可以在福建一座墓葬的印花織物上找到，墓主死於1243年，見《福州南宋黄昇墓》，北京，1982年，頁125，圖91。

拍賣結果比較：
形制：非常相近
拍賣：香港蘇富比，2015年12月3日，lot 229
價格：HKD 400,000（相當於今日EUR 55,000）
描述：南宋時期吉州窯莲花花瓶
專家評論：比較一下幾乎相同的裝飾和釉面。注意不同的形式和稍小的尺寸 (18.2 厘米)。

拍賣結果比較：
形制：非常相近
拍賣：紐約佳士得，2021年9月24日，lot 832
價格：USD 27,500（相當於今日EUR 28,000）
描述：南宋時期吉州窯彩繪瓶
專家評論：請注意密切相關的形式和主題。請注意，此瓶没有反面裝飾，尺寸稍小 (18.4 厘米)。