Lot 797. A very rare grey-green-glazed porcelaneous figure of a recumbent mythical creature, China, probably Tang dynasty 618-907) 7 ½ in. (19 cm.) wide. Estimate $6,000 - $8,000. Price Realized $30,000. Photo Christie's Image Ltd 2015

Probably Changsha kilns, the hollow figure modeled as a recumbent beast with long muzzle with incised markings, bulging eyes, single horn between the pricked ears, incised mane, and hoofed feet, covered with a crackle-suffused glaze of greyish-olive color splashed in dark green, wood stand

Provenance: The Collection of Robert H. Ellsworth, New York, before 1995.

Note: Compare a Changsha ware reclining animal dating to the Tang dynasty, in the Guilin Museum, and illustrated by Bai Zhang, Complete Collection of Ceramic Art Unearthed in China, vol. 10, Beijing, 2008, no. 87. 

Christie's. THE COLLECTION OF ROBERT HATFIELD ELLSWORTH PART IV - CHINESE WORKS OF ART: METALWORK, SCULPTURE AND EARLY CERAMICS, 20 March 2015, New York, Rockefeller Plaza.