Accession Number
1993/1.84

Title
Jar

Artist(s)
Chinese

Artist Nationality
Chinese (culture or style)

Object Creation Date
960-1127

Medium & Support
stoneware with slip and glaze

Dimensions
11 in x 9 11/16 in x 9 11/16 in (27.94 cm x 24.61 cm x 24.61 cm)

Credit Line
Gift of Domino's Pizza, Inc.

Label copy
Northern Song ceramics from the Cizhou kilns are eagerly sought after by contemporary collectors from around the world, who admire these works for their robust shapes and bold decor. In this example, a wide band of stylized floral petals enhances the rounded contours of the jar.
The design is made by first applying a white slip to the unfired pot and then adding a second slip in a dark chocolate brown. The floral patterns are incised through the dark slip, revealing the white beneath. Finally the entire vessel is coated with a clear glaze.
Maribeth Graybill, Senior Curator of Asian Art
Exhibited in "Flora and Fauna in Chinese Art," April 6, 2002 - December 1, 2002.

Subject matter
A cizhou (磁州) ware stoneware jar with sgraffiato decoration from the Northern Song dynasty (960-1127).

Northern Song ceramics from the Cizhou kilns are eagerly sought after by contemporary collectors from around the world, who admire these works for their robust shapes and bold decor. In this example, a wide band of stylized floral petals enhances the rounded contours of the jar.
The design is made by first applying a white slip to the unfired pot and then adding a second slip in a dark chocolate brown. The floral patterns are incised through the dark slip, revealing the white beneath. Finally the entire vessel is coated with a clear glaze.

Cizhou (磁州) ware has well known since the Song dynasty, with production lasting through the Qing, but it reached its zenith during the Jin and Yuan dynasties, where the forms were especially robust and the decoration finely executed.  The ware is characterized by its high contrast dark brown to black and white wares, although over a dozen types of decoration were used.  These techniques include painting, sgraffito, incision, overglaze, and underglaze, along with the application of multi-colored glazes.  The variety of sub-styles is a result from being produced at a variety of Northern kilns in Hebei, Henan, Shandong, and Shanxi.  These everyday (if not somewhat plebian) wares consisted primarily of large jars, vases, pillows, and bowls.

Physical Description
A stoneware jar with a globular shoulder and belly, a tapered base, a short wide neck with flaring rim, and four strap handles connecting the neck to the shoulder.  It is covered in a white slip then a black slip, with sgraffiato floral decoration that cuts through the layer of dark slip to reveal the white slip between bands around the body, covered in a clear glaze. 

Primary Object Classification
Ceramic

Primary Object Type
jar

Collection Area
Asian

Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit http://umma.umich.edu/request-image for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form. Keywords
Cizhou
ceramic (material)
flower (motif)
jar
jars
stoneware (pottery)