A RARE SANCAI-GLAZED SMALL RECTANGULAR 'TWIN-DUCK' PILLOW

TANG DYNASTY

Details
A RARE SANCAI-GLAZED SMALL RECTANGULAR 'TWIN-DUCK' PILLOW
tang dynasty
Impressed and colourfully enamelled on the slightly concave top with a symmetrical design of two mandarin ducks standing on lotus flowers with leafy branches in their beaks beside flower sprays, glazed in cream and amber on a strong blue ground, the four sides under an amber glaze with cream patches, restoration to edges
40in. (12.5cm.) wide, fitted box

Lot Essay

The result of Oxford Thermoluminescence test, no.C97f84, is consistent with the dating of this lot.

An almost identical pillow is in the Luoyang Museum of Cultural Relics, illustrated in Collection of Masterpieces of Chinese Cultural Relics - Ceramics, Hong Kong, 1993, fig.457, p.131; and another is in the Tokyo National Museum, illustrated Oriental Ceramics, the World's Great Collections, vol.1, fig.39. Another similar pillow, but with figures and a camel on the top is in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, illustrated Oriental Ceramics, The World's Great Collections, vol.10, no.73; and another with a floral rosette on the top was exhibited, The Arts of the T'ang Dynasty, O.C.S., 1955, Catalogue, no.148, lent by H.M. The King of Sweden, and now in the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockholm, illustrated Oriental Ceramics, The World's Great Collections, vol.8, colour plate 21.

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