A CHINESE JIZHOU `PAPER-CUT` TEA BOWL Song Dynasty With gently curved sides rising to a slightly everted rim, decorated to the interior with two brown phoenixes and three prunus blossoms against a variegated buff ground, the exterior covered in a tortoiseshell glaze with buff mottling falling just short of the unglazed foot, 12.3cm diameter Compare a similar bowl from the Songde Tang Collection, dated to the Southern Song Dynasty, sold at Christie`s Hong Kong, 3rd December 2021, lot 2834, and another sold at Christie`s New York, Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art, 22nd March 2019, lot 1708. 宋 吉州窯剪紙貼鳳梅紋盞 THIS LOT IS OFFERED WITHOUT RESERVE. Note: Jizhou ware is a Chinese pottery originating from Jiangxi province in Southern China, and was produced over a period of five centuries, ending abruptly in the 14 th century. The tea bowls produced there hold a special place in the history of Chinese ceramics, with tea-drinking becoming widespread during the Tang Dynasty (618-907) and remained popular throughout the Song Dynasty. The ceramics pieces were an important part of the tea drinking ceremony, and these wares were used by Emperors, officials, monks and ordinary people alike. The enduring influence of these ceramics can be felt today. Bernard Leach (1887-1979), the ‘Father of British Studio Pottery’, was greatly influenced by these wares, and utilised their forms, glazes and decorations as part of his own practice. Leach would coin the phrase ‘Sung [Song] standard’, which he believed was a level of authentic and unpretentious artistry that all contemporary potters should aspire to.