A RARE POLYCHROME-PAINTED CIZHOU 'BIRD' BOWL, JIN DYNASTY China, 1115-1232. With rounded flaring sides resting on a stoutly potted ring foot, covered inside and out with a chalk-white slip, vividly painted in bright iron-red, green, and yellow enamels with a songbird shown in profile in a central medallion framed by four concentric rings interspersed with clustered red dots lined up on an inner circle, all covered with a clear glaze, the exterior plain and the white slip ending above the foot, the exposed stoneware fired tan-brown.

Provenance: The Jiyuanshanfang Collection. North American trade, 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 some old wear and firing flaws, including dark spots and kiln grit, minor nicks to the foot, a few small and shallow chips to the exterior sides, one hairline, and light surface scratches. The enamels are remarkably well preserved overall.

Weight: 391.2 g
Dimensions: Diameter 16.8 cm

Expert's note: Cizhou bowls of this red and green enameled type are usually decorated with fish or flower motifs. Examples with bird designs are extremely rare.

Literature comparison:
Compare a related Cizhou painted bowl with bird, dated to the Jin dynasty (1115-1232), exhibited in J. J. Lally & Co. Oriental Art, Song dynasty ceramics: The Ronald W. Longsdorf Collection on 15 March -13 April 2013, no. 46. Compare a Cizhou bowl of this form painted with an aquatic bird design, in the collection of the Tokyo National Museum, illustrated in the catalog entitled Chugoku no toji: tokubetsu ten (Chinese Ceramics: Special Exhibition), Tokyo, 1994, p. 147, no. 216. The same bowl was previously published in the catalog of the Osaka Municipal Museum exhibition entitled So Gen no bijutsu (The Arts of the Song and Yuan), Tokyo, 1980, col. pl. 26.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie's New York, 13 September 2018, lot 832
Price: USD 43,750 or approx. EUR 51,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A polychrome-decorated Cizhou 'fish' bowl, Jin dynasty (1115-1234)
Expert remark: Compare the closely related decoration, enamels, and size (17.8 cm)

Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie's New York, 15 September 2016, lot 711
Price: USD 13,750 or approx. EUR 17,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A polychrome-decorated Cizhou deep bowl, Jin dynasty (1115-1234)
Expert remark: Compare the closely related decoration, enamels, and related size (19.2 cm)


金代罕見磁州窯彩繪鳥紋碗
中國，1115-1232年。碗口外撇，圓弧腹，圈足。内外施白色的化妝土，碗内開光塗有明亮的鐵紅色、綠色和黃色琺瑯，描繪了鳥紋。圈足部位露胎。

來源：北美古玩交易市場，購於吉緣山房收藏。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年在新澤西Morris Museum；2015年吉緣山房曾給弗羅里達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，有一些磨損和燒製缺陷，包括黑點和窯砂，足部有輕微的刻痕，外側有一些小而淺的碎屑，一條髮絲細線和輕微的表面劃痕。琺瑯整體保存極好。

重量：391.2 克
尺寸：直徑16.8 厘米

專家注釋：這種紅綠琺瑯的磁州窯碗多飾以魚或花卉圖案。鳥紋碗極為罕見。

文獻比較：
比較一件相近金代磁州彩繪花鳥碗，由J. J. Lally & Co. Oriental Art，2013年3月15日 - 4月13日展覽於《Song dynasty ceramics: The Ronald W. Longsdorf Collection》，編號46。比較一件磁州彩繪水鳥碗，收藏於國立東京博物館，見圖錄《特別展：中國的陶瓷》，東京，1994年，頁147，編號216。相同的碗曾出版於大阪市立美術館展覽圖錄，《The Arts of the Song and Yuan》，東京，1980年，圖錄頁26。

拍賣結果比較：
形制：非常相近
拍賣：紐約佳士得，2018年9月13日，lot 832
價格：USD 43,750（相當於今日EUR 51,000）
描述：金代磁州窯三彩蓮魚紋盌
專家評論：比較非常相近的裝飾、琺瑯彩，以及尺寸 (17.8 厘米) 。

拍賣結果比較：
形制：非常相近
拍賣：紐約佳士得，2016年9月15日，lot 711
價格：USD 13,750（相當於今日EUR 17,000）
描述：金代磁州窯紅綠彩花卉紋盌
專家評論：比較非常相近的裝飾、琺瑯彩，以及相近尺寸 (19.2 厘米)。