A fine phosphatic-splashed brown-glazed stoneware ever. 10th century

Well potted with an ovoid body, with a pair of small loops applied on the shoulder between the short conical spout and the strap handle, covered with a lustrous dark brown glaze decorated on the upper body with milky-blue phosphatic splashes and swirls and on the lipped mouth rim with three splashes that continue into the brown-glazed interior, the glaze ending in an irregular line above the flat foot with beveled edge to expose the oatmeal-colored stoneware - 8 5/8 in. (22 cm.) high, box  - Estimate : $60,000 - $80,000

Provenance : Acquired in Hong Kong in 1998.

Notes : The bluish or yellowish-white 'phosphatic' (suffused glaze) splashes that decorate dark brown-glazed wares of this type are applied after the initial glazing, often poured onto the piece as it is held in a sideways or inverted position so that the splashes trail decoratively down the body. On the present vase the splashes are swirled on one side of the shoulder.
Compare the similar ewer of the same size in the Shanghai Museum illustrated in Zhongguo Wenwu Jinghua Daci Dian, Shanghai, 2002, p. 243, no. 232.

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art. 17 September 2008. New York, Rockefeller Plaza. www.christies.com