13. Black-glazed stoneware bottle (yuhuchun ping) with ‘cut-glaze’ decoration

Jin - Yuan dynasty, 12^th - 14^th century
North China, Cizhou kilns
Height: 28.5cm
 
From around the twelfth century, the technique of ‘cut-glaze decoration’, mostly on black wares, appeared at several of the Cizhou kilns. To achieve this effect, the body of the vessel would have been coated in a thick dark glaze. While the glaze was still moist but stable, the potters incised the outlines of the decorative scheme and then the glaze was shaved from the ‘background’. Once completely dry, the pot was fired.