Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, New York, 13 - 14 September
An unusual blue and sancai-glazed pottery tripod censer, Tang dynasty (AD 618-907)
Lot 1271. An unusual blue and sancai-glazed pottery tripod censer, Tang dynasty (AD 618-907); 9 in. (23 cm.) diam. Estimate USD 20,000 - USD 30,000. Price realised USD 43,750. © Christie's Images Ltd 2018
The bulbous body is raised on three lion paw supports and is encircled by a raised band applied with three recumbent lions molded in high relief alternating with three triangular foliate appliqués, below further alternating appliqués, the larger imitating a foliate leaf-shaped medallion, all in blue, white and amber on a leaf-green ground below the amber glaze that covers the neck and outward-curved rim. The interior is covered with a thin wash of yellow glaze, cloth box.
Provenance: Hung Wu Antiques, Hong Kong, 29 September 1999.
Property from The Hall in Memory of Cypress (Jibo Tang)
Note: It is very rare to find Tang-dynasty equestrian figures with the horses decorated in brown and pale green glazes; chestnut and cream-tone glazes are more commonly found. While large horses of the period are known to have been covered in the dark brown-chestnut glaze, it is unusual to find on an equestrian figure of this smaller size. For a few other rare examples of related equestrian figures with brown and pale green-glazed horses see: Christie’s New York, 15-16 March 2015, lot 3228, for a rare dark-chestnut piebald example; He Li, Chinese Ceramics, A New Comprehensive Survey, New York, 1996, pp. 100-101, no. 185, for a brown-glazed example; J.P. Desroches, Compagnons d’éternité, Paris, 1996, p. 211, for a pale-green-glazed version not as richly applied as the present example.