LIAO/NORTHERN SONG DYNASTY, 10TH CENTURY

This rare ewer is similar in shape, glaze color, and the rouletted wave pattern on the body, to a ewer, also dated Liao dynasty, 10th century, in the Frederick M. Mayer Collection of Chinese Art, sold in our London rooms, 24-25 June 1974, lot 25, and subsequently illustrated by W. Watson in Tang and Liao Ceramics, New York, 1984, p. 233, pl. 278. Unlike the present ewer, the spout issues from the beak of a bird, not the jaws of a dragon, and the handle has a loop at the top and does not appear to be ribbed.