A CIZHOU RUSSET-PAINTED 'FLORAL' BOTTLE, XIAOKOU PING, JIN OR YUAN China, 13th-14th century. The ovoid body supported on a circular foot ring with a recessed base and rising to a short neck and a canted lip, covered with a mottled black and russet glaze, the shoulder painted in iron oxide with a stylized floral pattern, the foot left unglazed. Provenance: Ming House, Hong Kong. Dr. Koos de Jong, acquired from the above in 1999 (invoice not available). Dr. de Jong is a Dutch art historian and has been privately collecting Chinese art over decades. He has authored hundreds of articles and several books on Dutch fine and decorative arts spanning from the Middle Ages to the modern era. In 2013, he published an extensive study of Chinese riding gear in "Dragon & Horse, Saddle Rugs and Other Horse Tack from China and Beyond". Between 1976 and 2009 he worked for numerous museums across the Netherlands and was the director of the European Ceramic Work Center in Den Bosch. Condition: Good condition with minor wear and firing irregularities. Strong wear with glaze abrasions to lip. No repairs or touchups of any kind! Weight: 1,558 g Dimensions: Height 19.8 cm The glazed base with an inscribed mark, possibly the Chinese character for the number 'two'. Due to the high concentration of iron oxide, the flowers painted by hand show a luster effect. Ovoid jars of this type, with these distinctive small, ringed mouths, are termed xiaokou ping (small-mouthed bottles) and were probably sealed with a fabric-wrapped wooden dowel and used for storing wine and other liquids. Typically dark-glazed, such bottles are often painted in russet or rust-brown slip with abstract floral decoration or designs suggestive of birds in flight, rendered in vigorous, calligraphic strokes. Literature comparison: Heaven and Earth Seen Within: Song Ceramics from the Robert Barron Collection, New Orleans, 2000, p. 112-113, pl. 41. R. Mowry, Hare's Fur, shell, and Partridge Feathers. Chinese brownand black-glaze ceramics, 400-1400, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge (MA) 1996, no. 55, p. 255. R. Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, Vols. I, London 1994, no. 465, p. 255. He Li, Chinese Ceramics, London 1996, p. 166, ill. 309. Inaugural Exhibition, Vol. 1. Chinese Ceramics, The Museum of East Asian Art, Bath 1993, no. 125, p. 171. Auction result comparison: Compare with a related but slightly larger bottle sold by Christie's New York in Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art on 20-21 March 2014, lot 2084, for USD $15,625. 磁州窯印花紋小口瓶，金或元 中國，十三至十四世紀。卵形瓶體，圈足，底部呈凹形，短頸，斜唇，瓶體覆蓋著斑駁的黑色和赤褐色釉，肩上鐵紅色花卉紋，足上未上釉。 來源：香港Ming House收藏；Drs. Koos de Jong收藏，1999年購於上述收藏（發票已遺失）。Drs. de Jong是一位荷蘭藝術史學家， 幾十年來他一直私人收藏中國藝術品。他撰寫了數百篇文章和幾本書，內容涉及從中世紀到現代的荷蘭美術和裝飾藝術。 2013年，他在《Dragon & Horse：Saddle Rugs and Other Horse Tack from China and Beyond》中發表了有關中國騎馬裝備的詳盡研究。1976年至2009年間，他曾在荷蘭的許多博物館工作，並曾擔任登博世歐洲陶瓷工作中心的主任。 品相：品相良好，輕微磨損與燒製瑕疵。嚴重磨損，瓶唇釉面磨損，沒有任何修補或粘黏。 重量：1,558 克 尺寸：高19.8 厘米