A Sky Blue-glazed JUN Purple-splashed Vase (Meiping)

Potted with a plump and everted rim decorated with an embossed line, a short tightened neck, a fuller and bulging shoulder, a deep belly with its contour slightly converging downward to the ankle and then flaring out in the foot, it is covered overall in sky blue glaze, dripping down to the foot, leaving the edge untrimmed. The bottom is also applied with glaze, leaving the foot ring exposed. The dark biscuit looms at the rim and the shoulder to present a blue colour with yellow tint; the belly and the foot hold thicker glaze to give a brighter azure blue; the vase is covered in purple splashes of various shapes with a bright green tint; some are stretching out while some are converged together to achieve a bizarre and gorgeous beauty.

“Meiping”, didn’t appear until the Qing Dynasty. XU, Zhiheng, in the Republic of China, comments in the Porcelain Wares in Study YIN LIU: “Meiping vase, is potted with a delicate mouth and short neck, a broad and fuller shoulder, a converging ankle, and a slightly splayed foot; due to its small opening, resembling the skinny image of plum blossom (flower Mei), hence the name Meiping.”