此壺大肚球狀,頸部帶有節,青綠釉下,通體剔花。這種宋初耀州窯青瓷特有的剔花,一般很深。最深者可達五毫米,釉在圖案邊緣凝集,將形成的陰暗之處與浮凸的光亮部分化為巧妙的對比。

此壺先用竹刀在預製的灰泥素胎上剔出花紋,然後浸入釉中,接著放進一千二百五十度的窯內燒。上釉多層變厚,經過燒製,呈現出橄欖綠的色調。

可能因為這種色澤的對比,加上精緻的做工,使耀州窯在宮廷器皿中占據一席地位。此壺流呈雙鳳形,鳳凰為皇后的象徵,可以設想是專為皇宮而製作的。

此壺所運用的裝飾及造型,在風格上仍接近金銀器,是唐代採納中東金屬藝術所留下的遺風。然而也反映出瓷器擺脫金屬影響的演化過程,逐漸走向屬於自己的形態和圖案。此類釉色瓷器在宋初扮演一個重要的角色,在屬越窯的祕色窯之後,作為前鋒里程碑之一,使瓷器成為桌上器皿,與金銀器和漆器具同等地位,值得上流社會收藏。

This ewer, with its globe-shaped belly and high, fluted neck, has an extensive carved floral decoration under a blue-green glaze. Characteristic carvings on productions from the Yaozhou kilns under the early Song were deeply incised on this type of piece as much as 5mm deep producing graceful contrasts between the shaded zones created by the accumulation of glaze at the decorative contours, and the lighter zones covering the reliefs.

The motifs were carved into warmed grey clay using a bamboo knife. The piece was then soaked in a bath of glaze and subsequently fired in the kiln at a temperature of 1250o C. Over time, these glazes, applied in successive layers, thickened and took on an olive-green tone.

It was perhaps because of their contrasting colors and painstaking execution that the phenix celadons earned their place as items of imperial tableware. Indeed, this particular piece, with its twin phoenix-head spouts, was presumably intended for the palace of the Empresses, of whom the phoenix was the symbol. Both the decoration and form used reveal stylistic similarities with gold and silver tableware, the decorative models of which, inherited from the Tang (618-907), were related to metalworking arts in the Near East. Nevertheless, they belong to an evolutionary process that was to liberate ceramic decoration from metalworking influences and to provide it with its own repertoire of forms and motifs. This type of glaze also played a key role under the early Song. Carrying on from the Miseyao, it paved the way in elevating ceramics in the eyes of the social elite, first to the rank of tableware, and subsequently to the status of collection objects on a par with silver, gold, and lacquerware.