Lot 43. A rare sancai-glazed pottery amphora, Tang Dynasty (618-907). 38.6cm (15 1/4in) high. Estimate £8,000 - 12,000 (€9,100 - 14,000). Sold for £17,500 (€19,744). Photo: Bonhams.

The elegantly-tapering ovoid body raised on a flat base, the rounded shoulders, reel-shaped neck and confronted dragon-headed handles that grasp the cup-shaped mouth splash-glazed in amber, green and cream, stopping in an irregular line above the buff unglazed lower body.

Provenance: an English private collection

Note: Compare with a similar sancai-glazed amphora, Tang dynasty, similarly applied with a pair of dragon-head handles, illustrated in Chinese Ceramics in the Idemitsu Collection, Tokyo, 1987, pl.330. 

A similar sancai-glazed pottery amphora, Tang dynasty, was sold at Christie's New York, 21-22 March 2013, lot 1165.

A sancai-glazed pottery amphora, Tang Dynasty (618-907). 13¾ in. (35 cm.) high. Sold for 17,500 USD at Christie's New York, 21-22 March 2013, lot 1165. © Christie's Images Ltd 2013

 Bonhams. FINE CHINESE ART, 9 Nov 2017, 10:30 GMT, LONDON, NEW BOND STREET