SONG-JIN DYNASTY (AD 960-1234)

The present cloud or ruyi-shaped pillow is finely carved on the top with a single, large peony flower framed by the trailing leafy stem, with the top and sides of the pillow covered in a green glaze. For a comparable green-glazed pillow of ruyi-shape and dated to Jin dynasty, see Chinese Ceramic Pillows: The Mr. and Mrs. Yeung Wing Tak Gift, Hong Kong, 1993, pl.130. Another Cizhou green-glazed pillow from the Song-Jin dynasty, of oblong form, from The Collection of Robert Hatfield Ellsworth, was sold at Christie’s New York, 20 March 2015, lot 847.