A CIZHOU SGRAFFIATO ‘PEONY’ MEIPING, JIN – YUAN DYNASTYSturdily potted with the lower part of the body ribbed, the short cylindric neck with a sprawling lip China, Jin- Yuan dynasty, 13th – 14th centuryOf attenuated form, carved through the rich brown glaze to the body with a circumferential scroll depicting a peony blossom accompanied by its tendrils and leaves, the recessed base with its broad foot rim unglazed.This meiping is of a type commonly used to hold wine and is decorated using a technique employed at several kilns in north China. The technique of fully glazing the vessels and then cutting away or incising the design through the glaze before firing produced a dramatic design. Such designs owed their impact not only to the contrast between the pale color of the revealed body material and the rich dark brown of the glaze, but to the contrast between the slightly rough matte texture of the body and the silky gloss of the glaze. Vessels decorated using this technique were made at several kilns producing ceramics in the Cizhou style in Henan and Shanxi provinces.Shape: MeipingWeight: 988.6 gramsDimensions: Height 27.5 cmCondition: Extensive wear, some nibbles to lip, four minute chips to base, the glaze partially oxidized, kiln grit, minor manufacturing flaws, slightly inclined to one sideProvenance: American private collection.Literature comparison: A related Cizhou meiping from the George Eumorfopoulos Collection is illustrated by R. L. Hobson, et al., The Romance of Chinese Art, New York, 1936, no. 12. Two other Cizhou meiping are illustrated in Black Porcelain from the Mrs. & Mrs. Yeung Wing Tak Collection, Guangzhou, 1997, nos. 19 and 20.金元時期磁州窯牡丹印花梅瓶厚胎,下部有螺旋紋,短頸,寬唇中國, 金元時期,十三至十四世紀造型:梅瓶重量: 988.6 克尺寸: 高 27.5 厘米品相:大面積磨損,一些一直到唇部的損壞,底部四個小裂口,釉面局部氧化,窯砂,輕微製造缺陷,略微傾斜到一側來源:美國私人收藏