TANG DYNASTY

Details

Two glazed stoneware amphoras
Tang Dynasty
The shoulders of the oviform body applied with double strap handles applied with bosses and terminating at the top in dragon heads biting the cup-shaped mouth surmounting the slightly waisted neck, partly covered in a pale olive green crackle-suffused glaze falling irregularly well above the base to expose the white stoneware body, some chips and restorations
38 cm. - 39 cm. high (2)

Special notice

Christie's charges a Buyer's premium calculated at 23.205% of the hammer price for each lot with a value up to €110,000. If the hammer price of a lot exceeds €110,000 then the premium for the lot is calculated at 23.205% of the first €110,000 plus 11.9% of any amount in excess of €110,000. Buyer's Premium is calculated on this basis for each lot individually.

Lot Essay

Whether intended to serve as a container or purely for decoration, dragon-handled amphora of this type were popular in northern China in the Tang Dynasty and standard inclusions in tombs. According to Wang Qingzhang, the form is derived from the double-bodied amphora with two dragon-form handles of the preceding Sui dynasty, an example of which is illustrated, along with an amphora very similar to the present lot, in A Dictionary of Chinese Ceramics, Shanghai, 2002, p. 49.

More from ASIAN CERAMICS AND WORKS OF ART

View All