Vase

This tall, slender, meiping shape vase displays an exceptionally well-cut floral design. The vessel was first covered with a white slip through which the decoration was incised. The areas intended as background were then shaved away to reveal the light-grey stoneware body of the vase. Finally, the entire vessel was given a transparent glaze before firing. This so-called cut-glaze (tihua) technique had been used at Cizhou type kilns throughout north China since the Jin dynasty (1115-1234). Recently excavated kilns near Lingwu in northern Ningxia, Huici autonomous region, reveal that the area produced excellent wares during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries of the Xixia period (1032-1227). The black and white cut-glaze wares of these kilns included a large variety of bottle-vase forms. Black glazes predominated, however, and white glaze vessels of this size, condition, and design quality are relatively rare.