TANG DYNASTY (AD 618-907)

A similar steatite tortoise-form inkstone and cover is illustrated in the catalogue of the Inaugural Exhibition, vol. 2, Chinese Metalwares and Decorative Arts, The Museum of East Asian Art, Bath, England, April 1993, no. 328. A pottery tortoise-form ink palette and cover excavated from a Tang dynasty tomb in Shangcaisian, Henan province, in 1962, is illustrated in Wenwu, 1964:2, pls. VIII:7 and 8. For another example with a double tray, in the Shanghai Museum, see Wenwu, 1965:12, p. 55, figs. 1 and 2. See, also, a grey pottery example sold at Christie’s New York, 4 June 1987, lot 180.