pre-song wares

A pair of painted pottery feline-headed jars with detachable necks
Western Han dynasty (206BC – AD9)
Height of each: 41cm, 16 1/8in.

The body of each jar is compressed spherical form resting on a low slightly splayed foot-rim. The cylindrical base of the neck is detachable from a short distance above the shoulders. The upper part of the neck is bent over and fashioned into the head of a mythical feline resembling a horned leopard, with large white eyes with black pupils, short pointed ears, and curved white horns set against the red forehead. A circular aperture is let into the highest point of the neck. The body is deftly painted in red and white pigments with swirling clouds, above a double red line border. It is rare to find detachable necked jars with feline heads rather than the more usual goose heads. The flexible neck of the goose lends itself to this type of jar, and perhaps it is reasonable to deduce that the mythical feline represented here has a similarly sinuous neck. The broad register of swirling cloud is characteristic of the Western Han rendition of the celestial realm. The mythical feline, as at home in this misty world as the heavenly version of the tiger, probably serves a similar function, as an averter of evil.

Stock No. 843

Price : On Request

A rare Yaozhou dark-brown-glazed leys-jar (zhadou)
late Tang dynasty (618 - 906), 9th century
Height: 12 cm., 4 ¾ in. Diameter: 15 cm., 5 7/8 in

The vessel is superbly potted with a very widely flared mouth supported on a constricted neck above the compressed teardrop-shaped body. The inside of the mouth and the exterior is covered with rich deep-brown glaze lightly suffused on the surface where the glaze thickens with paler markings. The glaze falls short of the flat foot, showing the fine-grained grey ware.

Condition : Tiny repaired frit to rim. Otherwise good condition

Stock No. 780

Price : On Request

A large and finely painted pottery cocoon flask
Early Western Han dynasty (206 BC-9 AD)
Height: 40 cm. 15 ¾ in. Length: 44 cm. 17 3/8 in.

The vessel is of well-potted thin-walled construction, resembling an egg, or as its more usual name suggests, a silkworm cocoon, lying on its side, supported below by a splayed foot and with a matching, slightly larger, flared neck in the centre of the upper side. The grey burnished body, visible through the pigment in some places, is encircled at various separations by sets of three accurately impressed triple lines, which mark off registers of decoration. The overall painted decoration itself, which is executed in pinkish-red, white and ochre, falls broadly into three areas: a broad central field painted with opposed swirls of cloud; and two domed end areas, similarly painted with cloud-like motifs. The neck and foot are painted with horizontal bands in similar style, and the narrow sloping rim of the mouth is painted with zigzag and dots. These distinctive vessels are characteristic of the Qin/early Western Han period. If, as has not in fact been established, the model for the form is indeed the cocoon of the silkmoth, with its obvious suggestion of metamorphosis, it would seem appropriate for a funerary vessel. The swirling cloud decoration is often seen on Han funerary vessels, and has been interpreted (see Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, vol. I, p.60) as the vapours through which a soul must travel on its way to the immortal realm.

Stock No. 667

Price : On Request

A green- and brown-glazed pottery money tree base
Eastern Han dynasty (A.D. 25 - 220)
Height: 45.8cm. 17 7/8in.

Money trees so called after the coins distributed amongst their branches. A complete money tree should have fragile, finely cast bronze perforated branches with dense leaves composed of mythical animals, human and divine figures and coins.
This base is of roughly conical shape formed from an extraordinary pile of mythical animals. The cylindrical neck, for the insertion of the money tree itself, is stout-walled. The whole is applied with a crackled shiny glaze in brown and blue-green, somewhat degraded on one side and towards the base. The pottery itself is red in colour.
Various complete money trees (yaoqian shu) are known, but with only one or two exceptions the elaborate bronze upper part, cast with numerous branches suspended with coins, is broken into numerous pieces. A complete one in good condition is illustrated by Rawson, Mysteries of Ancient China, p.177, No.87, which was excavated in Pengshan county, Sichuan province.

Condition : The condition of this piece is good.

Stock No. 250

Price : On Request

A pair of painted grey pottery ovoid jars
Tang dynasty (618 - 906 A.D.)
Height: c.28cm, 11in.

Each jar is well proportioned with rounded shoulders tapering to a small flat base and supporting a very short waisted neck with rolled rim. The sides of each are defly painted in black, green, orange and white with four large four-petalled blooms furled at the edges and with a floret-like centre, all on an orange ground, divided by paired single-petalled florets, between bold bands of upright and pendant black-outlined lappets around the base and the shoulders. The unglazed base shows the grey ware with concentric potting lines.
Jars of this kind are sometimes seen with a flared pedestal base and a small knopped cover resembling a paroda, from which they are sometimes known as "pagoda jars".

Condition : There is minor flaking and wear to painted areas. Generally excellent. The dating of these pieces is consistent with the result of a thermoluminescence test, Oxford, No. 76t86.

Stock No. 248

Price : On Request