TANG DYNASTY (AD 618-907)

The shape of this elegant vase was inspired by metal prototypes that were introduced from Central Asia. A very similar vase, partly glazed in pale green, in the Nezu Institute of Fine Arts, is illustrated in Tang Pottery and Porcelain, Tokyo, 1988, p. 45, no. 40. A slightly larger sancai-glazed vase with more compressed body, its neck incised with three bow-string bands, in the Tokyo National Museum, is illustrated by M. Sato et. al., Ceramic Art of The World: Sui and T'ang Dynasties, vol. 11, Tokyo, 1976, p. 59, no. 43. See, also, two similar vases with horizontal ribs encircling the neck, one illustrated in The Arts of The T'ang Dynasty: A Loan Exhibition organized by the Los Angeles County Museum From Collections in America, Los Angeles, 1957, p. 82, no. 194; the other illustrated in Zhongguo taoci daxi, Han Tang taoci daquan (Chinese Ceramics Series, Han and Tang Ceramics), Taipei, 1987-89, p. 451.