The vase with painted stylized floral sprigs epitomizes the inventive decorative style and techniques of the popular nonimperial ceramics produced at the Cizhou kilns in China's Hebei province from the tenth to the fourteenth century. Wares With green lead glaze over black decoration were one of the last decorative styles to be produced at Cizhou kilns. The baluster-shaped vessel captures the calligraphic spontaneity that often represents this type of ceramic ware.
