TANG/FIVE DYNASTIES PERIOD, 9TH-10TH CENTURY

Details

A VERY RARE XINGYAO EWER
TANG/FIVE DYNASTIES PERIOD, 9TH-10TH CENTURY
The ewer is potted with an elegant pear-shaped body that rises to a narrow neck below the pinched and flared 'phoenix-head' mouth rim, and has a curved handle on one side. The vessel is covered inside and out with an ivory-white glaze that falls to the knife-trimmed edge of the spreading foot where the fine white ware is exposed.
13 1/8 in. (33.2 cm.) high

Provenance

Sotheby's London, 8 December 1992, lot 132.
Sotheby's London, 19 June 2002, lot 14.

If you wish to view the condition report of this lot, please sign in to your account.

View condition report

Lot Essay

The Xing kilns in Hebei province were best known for the production of tea bowls, dishes and bowl stands, and larger vessels, such as ewers, are very rare. Compare a Dingyao ewer, dated to the Tang dynasty, of similar form, with a similar spout but with a phoenix-head cover, illustrated by Bai Zhang, ed., Complete Collection of Ceramic Art Unearthed in China, 2008, Hebei, no. 34. Another Dingyao ewer, dated to the Five Dynasties period, with a spout also of similar simplified phoenix-head shape, is illustrated ibid., no. 77.

The result of Oxford Authentication Ltd. thermoluminescence test no.666g67z is consistent with the dating of this lot.

More from Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art

View All