White-glazed Twin-phoenix Pot with Brown Coloring

Excavated from the Caohe River bank of Yangzhou city in 1971, this large-sized pot, with a heavy, sturdy body and decorative patterns composed of unrestrained, free-flowing lines, is one of the representative pieces made by Cizhou Kiln during the Yuan dynasty (1271-1368 AD). It has an upright opening, sloped shoulders, ball-like belly which tapers in the lower section and a jade-disk-shaped bottom. With a coating of maroon glaze inside, this pot is covered on the exterior with white glaze coupled with bronze embellishment. While its shoulder is surrounded with motifs of flowers alternating phoenixes, its belly area features two phoenixes with stretched wings and curly clouds in the two ruyi-shaped frames, between which there are chrysanthemum patterns. The phoenix painting was done based on the combination of double-line flat coloring, dense lines or dots, and light-brown rendering within dark-brown outlines.