During the Song and Jin dynasties, craftsmen at the Cizhou kilns began to employ a new technique called tihua, which involved glazing an object black and then creating decorative patterns by chipping away parts of the glazing to reveal the white clay underneath. The strong contrast of black and white makes for a vivid visual effect. Most tihua ware was made in northern China, especially in the Cizhou kilns and in the Western Xia (Tangut) Empire. This Meiping vase has an outwardly curved lipped edge, a short neck, sloping shoulder, and gently curved belly. The entire vase is glazed black, with the exception of the round foot, where the finish was scraped away to avoid that the vessel would became attached to the kiln equipment. Several horizontal lines divide the decorative design into two parts, with the upper showing a curly cloud design going all around the vase, and the lower a lively floral design that has a strong visual impact and also wraps around the whole vase. The black glaze has a smooth, glossy sheen, while the raised and recessed parts of the tihua approach create a pleasant bas-relief effect. Overall, this vase is a good example for the bold craftsmanship and rough beauty of Cizhou ware.

H: 27 cm