A PAIR OF LONGQUAN CELADON MALLET VASES

Details

A PAIR OF LONGQUAN CELADON MALLET VASES
SONG DYNASTY

The tapering cylindrical body rising to the angled shoulders surmounted by a cylindrical neck flanked by stylized dragon handles below a cup-shaped mouth, all under a widely crackled, bluish-green glaze thinning at the edges and exposing the footring burnt to a pale orange in the firing--6 3/8in. (16.2cm.) high, box (2)

Lot Essay

Compare the vase of slightly larger size with similar handles in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Oriental Ceramics, The World's Great Collections, Kodansha, 1977, vol. 12, col. pl. 22. For a discussion of vases of this type, with both dragon and phoenix handles, see Mino and Tsiang, Ice and Green Clouds, Traditions of Chinese Celadon, Indianapolis Museum of Art, January 28-March 22, 1987, Catalogue, no. 78