TANG DYNASTY (AD 618-907)

The present tripod jar and cover is a particularly fine example, with finely-molded appliques and well-controlled splashed colors in the sancai glaze. Another finely-executed jar, also with a cover, was included in the exhibition Cina a Venezia. Dalla Dinastia Han a Marco Polo in 1986, and is illustrated in the Catalogue, Milan, 1986, p.189, no, 99. Another jar and cover of comparable quality is illustrated by Liu Liang-yu, Early Wares. Prehistoric to Tenth Century, Taipei, 1991, p. 213.

A sancai-glazed pottery tripod jar with very similar molded floral appliques, but of smaller size (13.3 cm. high), from the Dexinshuwu Collection, was included in The Special Exhibition of Tang Tri-Colour, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1995, p. 139, and subsequently sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 4 October 2016, lot 3. A sancai-glazed tripod jar and cover with similar appliques was sold at Christie's New York, 14-15 September 2017, lot 1107; and a sancai-glazed tripod jar and cover without appliques, from the collection of Frederick A. and Sharon L. Klingenstein, was sold as Christie's New York, 13 September 2019, lot 834.

Tripod jars with smaller appliques and without covers have also been exhibited in museums: one is illustrated in Mostra d'Arte Cinese, Venice, 1954, p. 102, no. 237; one from the collection of Howard C. Hollis is illustrated in The Arts of the Tang Dynasty, Los Angeles, 1957, no. 197; a third example is illustrated in An Exhibition of Noted Chinese Ceramics, Japan, 1992, p. 24, no. 12.

The result of Oxford Authentication Ltd. thermoluminescence test no. C199b20 is consistent with the dating of this lot.