Ashmolean Eastern Art Online, Yousef Jameel Centre for Islamic and Asian Art

This piece is unusual in several respects, particularly its heavy potting, its greenish glaze, and its deeply incised design, which reaches right up to the rim. It clearly is not a product of the Jingdezhen region in Jiangxi province, like most other qingbai wares in the collection, nor of any of the neighbouring kilns, and may represent a contemporary copy made in North China.

The piece is very heavily potted, of deep U shape, and rests on a high straight foot. The inside is deeply carved with a central peony spray with a bloom and leaves and the sides with a matching peony scroll with two similar blooms among dense foliage, all executed with boldly incised outlines and combed details. The outside is carved with thin spiralling petals. A glossy green-tinged glaze covers the fairly coarse body; it takes on a more intense green tone where it adheres in a thicker layer and has an overall brown-stained crackle. The base and part of the footring are unglazed, showing a yellowish-beige biscuit.