China, 960-1279. The flaring sides rising from a flat foot with recessed base to a rounded shoulder with waisted neck and everted lip. The upper body is finely carved with a broad band of flowerheads and leafy branches. Covered in a white slip, thinning at the edges to reveal the brown body and stopping in a slightly uneven line above the foot, the rim and recessed base left unglazed, revealing the buff ware.

Provenance: Property from a North German private collection, in the family since the 1970s and thence by descent. Old Inventory label ‘50/0219’. Old collector’s label bearing an inscription in brown ink.
Condition: Good condition with minor wear and firing flaws. Extensive wear to the slip below the floral band. Some minuscule frits.

Weight: 1,740 g
Dimensions: Height 35 cm

The mannered diction of the floral band that comprises the main decoration on the current vase was undoubtedly influenced by earlier metalwork. It is a distinct style that appears to have found particular favor in the early part of the Northern Song dynasty. A fragment of another vessel decorated in a similar style was exhibited in Kiln Sites of Ancient China - Recent Finds of Pottery and Porcelain, Oriental Ceramic Society, London, 1980, p. 155, no. 389. This fragment had been found in 1962 at a kiln site at Quhezhen, Dengfengxian, Henan province.

Related flower heads with narrow and sharply cut petals also appear on early Northern Song ceramics from kilns which were patronized by the court. They can be seen, for example, on the shoulder of a Ding ware vase excavated in 1969 from the so-called ‘underground palace’ of a pagoda at the Jingzhongyuan Temple at Dingzhou, Hebei province, illustrated in Treasures from the Underground Palaces - Excavated Treasures from Northern Song Pagodas, Dingzhou, Hebei Province, China, Idemitsu Museum of Arts, Japan, 1997, no. 88. Along with other treasures, this Ding vase was sealed into the base of the pagoda when it was built in AD 995.

Literature comparison: A large Cizhou vase decorated with a related stylized floral scroll is in the collection of the Freer Gallery of Art, illustrated by G. Hasebe in Sekai toji zenshu - 12 - Song, Tokyo, 1977, pp. 110-11, no. 109. Compare also an ewer with a related decorative band in the Tokyo National Museum, illustrated in Song Ceramics, Tokyo, 1999, p. 126, no. 8. A related floral scroll also appears on a Yaozhou celadon ewer in the collection of the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, illustrated by G. Hasebe in Sekai toji zenshu - 12 - Song, Tokyo, 1977, pl. 187.

Auction result comparison: Compare a cizhou ewer, 23.5 cm high, carved with a related floral band, dated to the Northern Song dynasty, at Christie’s London in Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art on 5 November 2013, lot 398, sold for GBP 380,500. Compare a cizhou baluster vase, 39.6 cm high, carved with a related floral band, dated to the Northern Song dynasty, at Christie’s New York in Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art on 19 March 2009, lot 508, sold for USD 194,500.

宋代罕見磁州窯花卉紋梅瓶
中國。960-1279年。口細而頸短，豐肩，下收、圈足的立式。瓶至胸部，施白色化妝土，淺雕花卉卷葉紋，邊緣變薄，肩部以下至足部有略微不均勻的線條。邊緣和凹陷的底部露淺黃色胎。

來源：德國北部私人收藏，從上世紀七十年代起在同一家族保存至今。老標籤“50/0219“，用棕色墨水所寫。
品相：狀況良好，有輕微磨損和燒製瑕疵。下方大面積磨損，一些微小的熔塊。

重量：1,740 克
尺寸：高35 厘米

拍賣結果比較: 比較一件北宋磁州窯罐，高23.5 厘米，相似花卉紋帶，見倫敦佳士得Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art 2013年11月5日 lot 398, 售價GBP 380,500；比較一件北宋磁州窯賞瓶，高39.6 厘米，相似花卉紋，見紐約佳士得Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art 2009年3月19日 lot 508, 售價USD 194,500。