Vase

Manufactured during the tenth and eleventh centuries, vessels such as this decorated with deeply carved peony ornament are amongst the earliest of Cizhou type wares. The most striking shapes include a small group of five tall vases with long, narrow necks, high shoulders, and a large dish-shaped mouth, of which this is one. Distinctly shaped and elegant, all five vases display similar peony and scrolling leaf ornament distributed in three bands around the widest part of the body. Plain white vases of this shape have been excavated from Liao (907-1125) tombs at Da Ying Zi Sun, Chi Fengxian in Liaoning Province dated 959.