1-234-389 - The Museum of East Asian Art/Heritage Images

Zhang family Cizhou pillow, Jin dynasty, China, 1115-1234. The top of this large, tilted rectangular Cizhou pillow is freely painted in a chocolate-brown glaze over a white slip. The decoration includes a beast followed by a figure with parasol crossing a bridge in a mountainous river landscape with a retreat at the top. This decoration appears in a central ogival panel with surrounds of dense foliage within a border of simple wave pattern. The front and side panels have central ogival panels containing bamboo and/or peony respectively, all with similar floral surrounds. The unglazed base has a Zhang family stamped cartouche topped by a lotus leaf.