(北方窯變黑釉帶纏枝牡丹大水缸) This is an unusual large size antique northern Chinese water pot with a deep relieved style in “twined peony,纏枝牡丹” design. The clay is of medium density and was both carved by deep cuts into the clay as well as by building the clay on the surface of the pot to achieve the different depths. This type of beautiful oxidized black glaze with variation in russet color (黑褐色) has been produced since ancient time in many places in China, including Jian-Yao (建窯) in Fu-Jian, Jiangxi (江西) , and Henan (河南) Province among others, where some of them are best known for their black-glazed tea bowls (茶碗), such as "Tenmoku Tea bowl", and vases. This is truly a very unusual and extraordinary large size pot with the fully bloomed three-dimensional peony shimmering in the dark with its grey residue.
This large water pot with an unusual floral motif is approximately 29” in diameter and 25” in height.