Lot Essay
This classic ewer represents one of two distinct types with a bird- headed mouth or spout made during the Tang Dynasty. Each was influenced by foreign metalwork prototypes, but the two groups have one fundamental difference. The first group, of which the present example is typical, is conceived as a flattened vase to be seen from two sides and has two decorative subjects. The second category is potted in the round and employs continuous decoration with less regard to any particular side.
One side of the present ewer depicts what is traditionally described as the 'Parthian shot', where an equestrian shoots an arrow backwards while galloping. Parthia, a kingdom in West Asia, southeast of the Caspian Sea was conquered by the Sassanid Persians in A.D. 226 and famed for their equestrian skills. The other side depicts a phoenix, a classically Chinese decorative motif since the archaic period, although also found on Sassanian art.
The foreign influences of the form and decoration are discussed by Bo Gyllensvard, "T'ang Gold and Silver", B.M.F.E.A., Stockholm, 1957, no. 29, where a Sassanian prototype is illustrated, figs. 23g and h, together with a dragon-headed ewer from the Horyuji temple, dating from the beginning of the Tang period, fig. 23b. Margaret Medley, PDF Monograph Series, Catalogue, no. 2, p. 4, discusses the political relations between the Sui Dynasty Emperor Yangdi and the Sassanian Persians, and the effect on ceramics. She illustrates an ewer of this type, pl. 3b, along with other Chinese ewers, pl. 1b, 2a and 3a, together with a Sassanian silver ewer, pl. 1a.
Ezekiel Schloss also discusses the foreign influence on Chinese works of art in the China Institute exhibition, Foreigners in Chinese Art, New York, May 1969, Catalogue, where he illustrates a post-Sassanian silver dish decorated with the 'Parthian shot' as well as a silver ewer.
The 'Parthian shot' and the phoenix motif can also be found on contemporary silks; the archer printed on a fragment excavated in 1972 in Turfan, Xinjiang, included in the Exhibition of Archaeological Finds of the People's Republic of China, Hong Kong, 1978, Catalogue, no. 78, and the dancing phoenix woven on a panel deposited in the Shosoin, Nara, in A.D. 756, illustrated by Leigh Ashton and Basil Gray, Chinese Art, London, 1953, pl. 42.
However see also, Pottery and Metalwork in T'ang China, Colloquies on Art and Archaeology in Asia no. I, Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, 1976, "Iranian Silver and Its Influence in T'ang China" by Souren Melikian where the author persuasively argues the Tang debt to Sogdian silver rather than Sasanian silver, which had hitherto gained universal accpetance.
Similar examples which include blue glaze are represented in major public and private collections. An example unearthed from Sanqiao, Xi'an in 1959, was included in the exhibition, Treasures from Chang'an: Capital of the Silk Road, Hong Kong, 1993-1994, Catalogue, no. 30. Another from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, illustrated by Suzanne Valenstein was included in the exhibition, Foreigners in Ancient Chinese Art, The China House Gallery, New York, 1969, Catalogue, no. 59. For other similar examples, see the exhibition, The Arts of the T'ang Dynasty, Los Angeles County Museum, 1957, Catalogue, no. 188 from the Collection of Mrs. Alfred Clark; Oriental Ceramics, Kodansha, Japan, 1983, vol. 8, col. pl. 23, from the Museum of Far Eastern Art, Stockholm (where the blue has misfired); Porcelain of the Jin and Tang Dynasties, The Complete Collection of Treasure of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 1996, p. 226, fig. 208, from the Palace Museum, Beijing; Oriental Ceramics, Kodansha, Japan, 1983, vol. 10, fig. 68, from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; in Ren-Yvon Lefebvre d'Argenc, Chinese Ceramics in the Avery Brundage Collection, San Francisco, 1967, p. 63, pl. XXVIb; from the Tsui Museum of Art, Hong Kong, illustrated in the Catalogue, Hong Kong, 1993, vol. 1, col. pl. 131 and also illustrated in Gems of Chinese Art, Hong Kong, 1992, pl. 30; in Selected Masterpieces of Chinese Ceramics, The Matsuoka Museum of Art, 1988, Catalogue, pl. 10; and two in the illustrated catalogues of the Tokyo National Museum, Chinese Ceramics I, p. 57, figs. 220 and 221. See also, the example from The Idemitsu Collection, Tokyo, illustrated by William Watson, Tang and Liao Ceramics, Fribourg, 1984, p. 16, fig. 7.
Molds for this type of ewer have been discovered at the Huangye kiln site of Gong County, Henan province.
A similar example sold in Christie's, New York, The Hardy Collection, September 21, 1995, lot 86; and another in Sotheby's, London, June 10, 1986, lot 28.
The result of Oxford Authentication Ltd. thermoluminescence test no. C298b51 is consistent with the dating of this lot.
One side of the present ewer depicts what is traditionally described as the 'Parthian shot', where an equestrian shoots an arrow backwards while galloping. Parthia, a kingdom in West Asia, southeast of the Caspian Sea was conquered by the Sassanid Persians in A.D. 226 and famed for their equestrian skills. The other side depicts a phoenix, a classically Chinese decorative motif since the archaic period, although also found on Sassanian art.
The foreign influences of the form and decoration are discussed by Bo Gyllensvard, "T'ang Gold and Silver", B.M.F.E.A., Stockholm, 1957, no. 29, where a Sassanian prototype is illustrated, figs. 23g and h, together with a dragon-headed ewer from the Horyuji temple, dating from the beginning of the Tang period, fig. 23b. Margaret Medley, PDF Monograph Series, Catalogue, no. 2, p. 4, discusses the political relations between the Sui Dynasty Emperor Yangdi and the Sassanian Persians, and the effect on ceramics. She illustrates an ewer of this type, pl. 3b, along with other Chinese ewers, pl. 1b, 2a and 3a, together with a Sassanian silver ewer, pl. 1a.
Ezekiel Schloss also discusses the foreign influence on Chinese works of art in the China Institute exhibition, Foreigners in Chinese Art, New York, May 1969, Catalogue, where he illustrates a post-Sassanian silver dish decorated with the 'Parthian shot' as well as a silver ewer.
The 'Parthian shot' and the phoenix motif can also be found on contemporary silks; the archer printed on a fragment excavated in 1972 in Turfan, Xinjiang, included in the Exhibition of Archaeological Finds of the People's Republic of China, Hong Kong, 1978, Catalogue, no. 78, and the dancing phoenix woven on a panel deposited in the Shosoin, Nara, in A.D. 756, illustrated by Leigh Ashton and Basil Gray, Chinese Art, London, 1953, pl. 42.
However see also, Pottery and Metalwork in T'ang China, Colloquies on Art and Archaeology in Asia no. I, Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, 1976, "Iranian Silver and Its Influence in T'ang China" by Souren Melikian where the author persuasively argues the Tang debt to Sogdian silver rather than Sasanian silver, which had hitherto gained universal accpetance.
Similar examples which include blue glaze are represented in major public and private collections. An example unearthed from Sanqiao, Xi'an in 1959, was included in the exhibition, Treasures from Chang'an: Capital of the Silk Road, Hong Kong, 1993-1994, Catalogue, no. 30. Another from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, illustrated by Suzanne Valenstein was included in the exhibition, Foreigners in Ancient Chinese Art, The China House Gallery, New York, 1969, Catalogue, no. 59. For other similar examples, see the exhibition, The Arts of the T'ang Dynasty, Los Angeles County Museum, 1957, Catalogue, no. 188 from the Collection of Mrs. Alfred Clark; Oriental Ceramics, Kodansha, Japan, 1983, vol. 8, col. pl. 23, from the Museum of Far Eastern Art, Stockholm (where the blue has misfired); Porcelain of the Jin and Tang Dynasties, The Complete Collection of Treasure of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 1996, p. 226, fig. 208, from the Palace Museum, Beijing; Oriental Ceramics, Kodansha, Japan, 1983, vol. 10, fig. 68, from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; in Ren-Yvon Lefebvre d'Argenc, Chinese Ceramics in the Avery Brundage Collection, San Francisco, 1967, p. 63, pl. XXVIb; from the Tsui Museum of Art, Hong Kong, illustrated in the Catalogue, Hong Kong, 1993, vol. 1, col. pl. 131 and also illustrated in Gems of Chinese Art, Hong Kong, 1992, pl. 30; in Selected Masterpieces of Chinese Ceramics, The Matsuoka Museum of Art, 1988, Catalogue, pl. 10; and two in the illustrated catalogues of the Tokyo National Museum, Chinese Ceramics I, p. 57, figs. 220 and 221. See also, the example from The Idemitsu Collection, Tokyo, illustrated by William Watson, Tang and Liao Ceramics, Fribourg, 1984, p. 16, fig. 7.
Molds for this type of ewer have been discovered at the Huangye kiln site of Gong County, Henan province.
A similar example sold in Christie's, New York, The Hardy Collection, September 21, 1995, lot 86; and another in Sotheby's, London, June 10, 1986, lot 28.
The result of Oxford Authentication Ltd. thermoluminescence test no. C298b51 is consistent with the dating of this lot.