Lot 1129. A dark olive-green-glazed ewer, Northern Song dynasty, 10th-11th century, 7 ½ in. (19.5 cm.) high. Estimate USD 6,000 - USD 8,000. Price realised USD 5,000 © Christie's Images Ltd 2017

The oviform body is scored with vertical triple-line bands and applied with bows with trailing ends 'tied' around the base of the double spout and the double strap handle, and applied with a pair of small loops on the shoulder below the tall neck that flares to the upright rim. The ewer is covered overall with a dark olive-green glaze. 

Provenance: Peter Scheinman (1932-2017) Collection, New York, before 1992.

Literature: J. C. Koo ed., Born of Earth and Fire: Chinese Ceramics from the Scheinman Collection, Baltimore, 1992, p. 73, no. 50.

Note: The unusual decoration of the applied 'tied bows' found on this ewer is similar to that seen on a Northern Song qingbai ewer on which the applied decoration forms four connected loops below the base of the spout, which is illustrated in Porcelain Collected by Anhui Province Museum, Beijing, 2002, p. 61, pl. 46, where the decoration is described as 'butterfly design'. As with the present ewer, two small loops have been applied to the shoulder between the spout and the handle.

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 14 - 15 September 2017, New York