Meiping Bottle with Plum Branch Decor

Probably used for storing wine, vinegar, soy sauce and other liquids during the Song (960-1279) and Yuan (1280-1368) dynasties, meiping bottles such as this came to be favored in later periods as vases for cut branches of flowering plum as the term, meiping (plum bottle or plum vase) implies. In fact, the term meiping does not appear in pre-Qing (1644-1912) texts. This elegant example of Jizhou stencil decoration displays a cut branch of flowering plum on each side of the bottle. The details of the pistils were brushed in with brown slip on the bisquit reserve and, as was typical in this technique, the resist portions of the design were coated with a thin application of clear glaze for protection.