Until 2nd Apr, 2025
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A STRAW-GLAZED PHOENIX HEAD EWER, LATE TANG TO EARLY NORTHERN SONG DYNASTY
LOT 135 - FAS0424
China, 10th century. The round body tapering to the splayed foot and rising to a tall slender neck surmounted by a phoenix head topped by a cup-shaped mouth with lobed rim. The shoulders incised with a double line border. Covered in a finely crackled straw-colored glaze stopping well above the foot to reveal the creamy-white ware.
Provenance: From the estate of Phillip Allen (1938-2022), who was a widely respected collector and expert of Chinese ceramics and works of art as well as a director of the Oriental Ceramic Society for many years. He co-authored and edited several exhibition catalogues for the OCS and was best known as the cataloguer of the Sir Victor Sassoon collection of Chinese ivories in the British Museum.
Condition: Commensurate with age, the vase with cracks and repairs, touchups, losses, and chips to the base. Presenting well.
Weight: 1 kg
Dimensions: Height 33.5 cm
Ceramic phoenix-headed ewers from the Tang dynasty, such as the present lot, derived from prototypes made in gold and silver. These metal wares were imported from Sasanian Persia along the Silk Road. Ceramic phoenix-headed ewers gained popularity during the Tang dynasty and were made at various kilns.
Literature comparison:
Compare a related phoenix-head ewer, dated 10th century, 37 cm tall, in the Brooklyn Museum, accession number 54.7. Compare a related phoenix-head ewer, dated 960-1020, formerly in the George Eumorfopoulos Collection and now in the British Museum, registration number 1936,1012.206. Compare a related Ding phoenix-headed ewer, dated to the Song dynasty, exhibited by the McClung Museum of Natural History & Culture, University of Tennessee, 2,000 Years of Chinese Art: Han Dynasty to the Present, 23 January-23 May 2010.
Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Sotheby’s New York, 22 March 2011, lot 125
Price: USD 31,250 or approx. EUR 39,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A 'Qingbai'-type phoenix-head ewer 10th century
Expert remark: Compare the related design and similar condition with chips and losses. Note the Qingbai glaze and the size (38 cm).
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