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Green & Amber Glazed Stoneware Pillow

Length: 29.0 cm. (11 1/2 in.) Width: 12.8 cm. (5 in.)Height: 8.5 cm. (3 3/8 in.)Jin dynasty12th-13th century A.D.

The headrest is of elongated bean shape freely combed and carved on the headrest with an even pattern of rivulet waves beneath a green glaze. In reserve are two cream-colored swimming ducks, one turning back to view the other approaching. The ducks are carved in a cartoonish style with swift economic strokes that convey movement. An amber-colored border encloses the water. An impressed floral trellis pattern decorates the sides of the pillow covered in amber-colored glaze thinning on the raised relief where the reddish body is revealed and thus rendering the pattern more legible. A small aperture is pierced on the back to allow gasses to escape during firing. The base is slathered with white slip and some ochre glaze at the edges, with a patch of unglazed surface in the center.

This unusual pillow is one of a relatively small group of published examples, each characterized by the unconventional shape, a relaxed, supple form related to "bean-,"or "kidney-bean-" shaped pillows but without the tautness and rigid profile of those forms. The present shape is sometimes referred to as "cloud"-shaped, which captures its amorphous, soft-edged lines. Among the published pieces, which commonly are decorated with a single large animal or human figure on the headrest, the present is most akin to a pillow with a single fish against a ground of waves (figs. 1-2). Several features beyond shape and headrest design further cement the close familial ties of these pillows. They are decorated with similar molded geometricized designs on the sides, are comprised of a light reddish color body which is a relatively

soft stoneware, and are glazed with green and amber to yellowish, lead silicate glazes (the limited palette of the sancai family) with slip and colorless glaze splashed willy-nilly on the base (fig. 3).

This otherwise discreetly decorated pillow conveys a rather special aesthetic. The pair of small ducks, delicately rendered, slip into view as they cross the green waters of the pond, almost as if they wished not to be disturbed. The shape of the pillow, color scheme and specific impressed lattice pattern that wraps around the sides of the pillow like a golden brocade, are precisely like a good number of other examples that have been attributed to Jinnan in Shanxi province with a suggested date of production during the Jin dynasty in the 12th-13th century. This period of production is supported by a pillow from a tomb

7.

Fig. 2: Side view of fig. 1, ibid., pl. 155 (bottom).

Fig. 3: View of base of fig. 1, ibid., opposite color plates.

cont. on p. ??

Fig. 1: Pillow with incised wave and fish design under amber and green glazes, Jin dynasty, 12th-13th century A.D., attributed to the Jinnan kiln, Shanxi province, after Chinese Ceramic Pillows: The Mr. & Mrs. Yeung Wing Tak Gift, Hong Kong, 1993, pl. 155 (top).

綠黃釉刻鴨波紋瓷枕

長 29.0 厘米寬 12.8 厘米高 8.5 厘米金

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We are still left to wonder who precisely within a family would have used such pillows: both the men and women in the household, the elder children, everyone? And were certain subjects deemed more suitable for males and others for females? Were they used in sets—as we use linens? There are likely obvious, along with not so obvious, answers to these questions, but we wait to be enlightened.

1. No photo or other information is provided for this pillow. Pillows of identical shape and closely related decorative design, however, are known, such as two in the Yeung Wing Tak collection that are glazed in the typical sancai colors and attributed to Jinnan in Shanxi province. See Chinese Ceramic Pillows: The Mr. & Mrs. Yeung Wing Tak Gift, Hong Kong, 1993, pls. 152 and 153.

2. See Song Boyin, "Ceramic Pillows-Their Shapes, Workmanship and Decoration," Chinese Ceramic Pillows: The Mr. & Mrs. Yeung Wing Tak Gift, Hong Kong, 1993, p. 455.

datable between 1201 and 1208 (fig. 4).1 In regard to the lattice pattern, it has been

noted. that "Since ceramic pillows were used in the home and were frequently in intimate contact with their users, potters sometimes decorated them with brocade patterns to give them the appearance of a brocade-like textile."2 Noteworthy too are the features held in common with Liao dynasty wares—the color schemes, the less than rigorous control of the glazes, the textile patterns, and even tiny motifs high-lighted in white against wave-like grounds of amber or green (fig. 5).

The immense variety of ceramic pillow styles is a curious phenomenon. What would account for the multiplicity of shapes and modes of décor? Normally we attribute such diversity and individuality to geographical and temporal factors—where and when was the pillow made.These considerations explain stylistic diversity in general, but within the world of ceramics, this diversity among pillows in particular seems boundless. Another interesting question is how were these pillows used. We know from old finds at Zhulu and Jinghexian, destroyed by the flooding the Yellow River in the early 12th century, that they were used within households. The claim that such pillows were purely funerary in nature was disproved by those early 20th century finds.

Fig. 4: Drawing of a sancai pillow from a tomb datable to A.D. 1201-1208, after Song Liao Jin ji’nian ciqi, Beijing, 2004, no 3-79.

cont. of cat. 7: Green & Amber Glazed Stoneware Pillow

Fig. 5: A green and amber-glazed molded elongated lobed dish with fish and wave decor, from the A.D. 1089 tomb of Xiao Xiaozong, Jinxi, Liaoning province, Liaoning Provincial Museum, after Zhang Bai, ed., Zhongguo chudi ciqi quanji, vol. 2 (Tianjin, Liaotong, Jilin, Heilongjiang), Beijing, 2008, pl. 59, p. 59.