Lot 45
45
AN OLIVE-GREEN-GLAZED STONEWARE CHICKEN-HEAD EWER

Details
AN OLIVE-GREEN-GLAZED STONEWARE CHICKEN-HEAD EWER
SOUTHERN DYNASTIES, LATE 5TH CENTURY

The stout, ovoid body incised on the shoulder with six petals, two superimposed by faceted lug handles and others separated by an upright spout formed as a chicken head and a curved strap handle terminating in a dragon head biting the rim of the dished mouth, covered in a finely crackled, transparent glaze of olive tone falling in an irregular line to the flat base to expose the gray ware burnt orange in the firing, chips--9 3/4in. (24.8cm.) high
Exhibited
Baltimore, The Baltimore Museum of Art, Born of Earth and Fire, Chinese Ceramics from the Scheinman Collection, September 9-November 8, 1992, no. 24

Lot Essay

Compare the ewer excavated from a tomb of the Liu Song dynasty, dated to 447 A.D., at a cemetary near the Xiuling dam, Huangyan county, Zhejiang province, and now in the Museum of Chinese History, Beijing, included in the exhibition, China in Venice, 1986, Catalogue no. 21