China, 9th-11th century. The base molded as two crouching tigers with their backs toward each other, the rectangular and elegantly curved top with canted corners and anhua decoration incised in the form of a peony blossom surrounded by leaves, covered overall with a finely crackled deep green glaze, the slipped base left unglazed, revealing the reddish-buff body, and incised with a guan (‘official’) mark.

Provenance: Dong Yu Artesanato, Macao, 1998. Dr. Koos de Jong, acquired from the above (invoice not available). Dr. de Jong is a Dutch art historian and has been privately collecting Chinese art over decades. He has authored hundreds of articles and several books on Dutch fine and decorative arts spanning from the Middle Ages to the modern era. In 2013, he published an extensive study of Chinese riding gear in “Dragon & Horse, Saddle Rugs and Other Horse Tack from China and Beyond”. Between 1976 and 2009 he worked for numerous museums across the Netherlands and was the director of the European Ceramic Work Center in Den Bosch.
Condition: Good condition with some wear and firing irregularities, such as pitting, glaze flakes, recesses, pooling, and minor frits, a glaze line across the top.

Weight: 410.0 g
Dimensions: Height 7.3 cm, Length 13.3 cm

Pillows and wrist rests in the form of people or animals started being made during the Tang period. Most examples today, however, were made during the Song period and are of the Ding, Qingbai or Cizhou types. Yue, Yaozhou or Longquan-type pillows and wrist supports, on the other hand, are extremely rare.

Literature comparison: A related yue pillow or wrist support in the form of a sleeping boy has the same unglazed oval base with a carved potter’s mark ‘ten’, see: M. Medley, Yuan Porcelain and Stoneware, London 1974, no. 15. A similar but damaged tiger headrest is illustrated in Chinese Ceramics, Sung-Yuan, Taipei 1997, p. 679. See also Chinese Ceramic Pillows. The Mr. & Mrs. Yeung Wing Tak Gift, Museum of the Western Han Tomb of the Nanyue King, Guangzhou 1993, no. 199, and R. Krahl, Yuegutang. Eine Berliner Sammlung Chinesischer Keramik, Berlin 2000, no. 115, p. 143.

Auction result comparison: Compare with a related Yaozhou censer in the form of two entwined lions, dated to the 12^th-13^th century, at Christie’s New York in The Collection of Robert Hatfield Ellsworth Part IV - Chinese Works of Art: Metalwork, Sculpture and Early Ceramics on 20 March 2015, lot 817, sold for USD 30,000, and also with a related pillow or wrist rest in the form of a crouching beast, dated to the Tang dynasty, at Christie’s New York in the same auction as above, lot 800, sold for USD 21,250.

唐末宋初耀州窯青釉官字虎形枕或臂擱
中國，九至十一世紀。兩隻蹲伏的老虎，背對著背，托著優雅彎曲的葵口枕面，牡丹暗花紋卷葉紋，整個表面覆蓋著開片的深綠色釉， 底部未上釉，露出淡黃色内胎，並有“官”字標記。

來源：澳門Dong Yu Artesanato, 1998年。 Dr. Koos de Jong收藏，購於上述收藏（發票丟失）。Dr. de Jong是一位荷蘭藝術史學家， 幾十年來他一直私人收藏中國藝術品。他撰寫了數百篇文章和幾本書，內容涉及從中世紀到現代的荷蘭美術和裝飾藝術。 2013年，他在《Dragon & Horse：Saddle Rugs and Other Horse Tack from China and Beyond》中發表了有關中國騎馬裝備的詳盡研究。1976年至2009年間，他曾在荷蘭的許多博物館工作，並曾擔任登博世歐洲陶瓷工作中心的主任。
圖片: Dr. Koos de Jong 與Ingeborg de Roode (照片來自於Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam)
品相：狀況良好，有一些磨損和燒制不規則現象，例如點蝕，釉剝落，凹陷和熔塊（頂部有釉線）。

重量：410.0 克
尺寸：高7.3 厘米, 長13.3 厘米

拍賣結果比較：一件十二至十三世紀耀州窯獅形香爐，見紐約佳士得The Collection of Robert Hatfield Ellsworth Part IV - Chinese Works of Art: Metalwork, Sculpture and Early Ceramics 拍場，2015年3月20日 lot 817, 售價USD 30,000； 另一件唐代獸形靠枕或臂擱，見紐約佳士得同一場拍賣lot 800, 售價USD 21,250.