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Lot Essay
A smaller ovoid ewer of Tang date with the same style of handle was sold in these rooms, The Falk Collection I, Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 20 September 2001, lot 25. This ewer had a stoneware body and was covered with a white glaze that covered only the upper two-thirds of the vessel. A ewer of the same form was illustrated by Dr. Wang Changqi of the Xi'an Municipal Conservation Institute of Cultural Relics in his paper 'Tang Dynasty White Porcelain found in Xi'an' presented to the 'Symposium on Ancient Chinese White Porcelain' held at the Shanghai Museum, October 2002. The ewer illustrated by Dr. Wang not only had the standing lion-shaped handle, but also the ribbed band around the base of the spout. The ewer, which was found in the vicinity of Xi'an, dates to the Tang dynasty. A similar early white ware ewer was exhibited by J.J. Lally & Co., Chinese Porcelain and Silver in the Song Dynasty, New York, 2002, no. 2, where comparisons are made with smaller versions of the form in the Freer Gallery, Washington D.C.; the Hans Popper Collection; the Carl Kempe Collection; the Meiyintang Collection; and the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco.
It seems that these Tang ewers provided the prototype for more finely made porcelain ewers of the second half of the 10th century, such as the current example. The fine white body of this ewer and the reduction-fired glaze are both similar to those of 10th century wares from the Ding kiln. Early Ding wares were fired in reduction, resulting in the 'cold' white color, seen on this ewer, in contrast to the later Ding wares, fired in oxidation, which have a warm ivory tone. Interestingly the spout on the current ewer, although it retains the ribbed band around the base seen on the Tang dynasty examples, shares its unusual dragon-head form with Ding ware kundika vessels excavated from both the Jingzhi and Jingzhongyuan Temple pagodas at Dingxian. These pagoda deposits are dated to AD 977 and AD 995, respectively. See Treasures from the Underground Palaces, Idemitsu Museum of Arts, Tokyo, 1997, nos. 59 and 87; and Zhongguo meishu quanji; gongyi meishu bian 2; taoci zhong, Shanghai, 1988, p. 108, no. 119.
The current elegant ware ewer is a rare example of this early fine white ware form, which combines late Tang dynasty features with those of late 10th century Ding ware ritual vessels.
It seems that these Tang ewers provided the prototype for more finely made porcelain ewers of the second half of the 10th century, such as the current example. The fine white body of this ewer and the reduction-fired glaze are both similar to those of 10th century wares from the Ding kiln. Early Ding wares were fired in reduction, resulting in the 'cold' white color, seen on this ewer, in contrast to the later Ding wares, fired in oxidation, which have a warm ivory tone. Interestingly the spout on the current ewer, although it retains the ribbed band around the base seen on the Tang dynasty examples, shares its unusual dragon-head form with Ding ware kundika vessels excavated from both the Jingzhi and Jingzhongyuan Temple pagodas at Dingxian. These pagoda deposits are dated to AD 977 and AD 995, respectively. See Treasures from the Underground Palaces, Idemitsu Museum of Arts, Tokyo, 1997, nos. 59 and 87; and Zhongguo meishu quanji; gongyi meishu bian 2; taoci zhong, Shanghai, 1988, p. 108, no. 119.
The current elegant ware ewer is a rare example of this early fine white ware form, which combines late Tang dynasty features with those of late 10th century Ding ware ritual vessels.