Two globular Cizhou ware jars with a treacly chocolate-brown slip carved through to the buff stoneware body across a central band and decorated with lotus flowers and petals. There are leaf sgraffito border patterns around the base. Both jars have covers with lobed oviform bodies surmounted by a flat round filial. Cizhou wares are distinguished by the vigour of their thrown and moulded forms and by the liveliness of their painted or engraved designs. These wares embody at once the greatest mastery of form with the uttermost perfection of restrained decoration. The stoneware body was usually a grey-white or pale buff. This body was covered in dark brown glazes which were then cut through when still damp, with bold floral designs on the pale bodies.