A Cizhou Painted 'Zhang Family' Rectangular Pillow

EARLY 20TH CENTURY The rectangular pillow top is decorated with a vignette of a kneeling scholar under a group of trees on a river bank watching a Daoist immortal float by, within an ogival cartouche surrounded by dense foliate scrolls. A large peony blossom is on the back and at each end, with a bird on a branch of bamboo on the front, all painted in brown on a white slip and covered with a clear glaze, with a small vent hole on the back. The base is stamped with a five-character maker’s mark, Gu xiang zhang jia zao, ‘made by Zhang Family from Guxiang’, capped by a lotus leaf. Stoneware with painted decoration over white slip under clear glaze 18.75 x 7.5 x 5.75 in. (47.6 x 19 x 14.6 cm.) PRICE AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST