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12 novembre 2018

A rare Xing mortar, 10th-11th century

A rare Xing mortar, 10th-11th century

Lot 250. A rare Xing mortar, 10th-11th century; 22 cm, 8 3/4  in. Estimate 20,000 — 30,000 GBP. Lot sold 62,500 GBP. © Sotheby's.

the robustly-potted octagonal body with shallow circular bowl and hollow base, each concave side set with a large ferocious animal mask with bared fangs and small horns, several of the masks enclosing loose balls, each panel edged with simulated bamboo protruding at the rim and foot, covered overall in a pale ice-blue glaze.

NoteThe result of Oxford Authentication thermoluminescence analysis report no.P108j23 is consistent with the dating of this lot. 

For a very similar mortar, see one from the collection of the British Rail Pension Fund, sold in these rooms, 12th December 1989, lot 74.

A Very Rare Xingyao Octagonal Mortar, 10th-11th century; 10in. (25.3cm.) across. Sold for 501,000 USD at Christie's New York, 21 March 2002, lot 129. © Christie's Images Ltd 2002.

A Very Rare Xingyao Octagonal Mortar, 10th-11th century; 10in. (25.3cm.) across. Sold for 501,000 USD at Christie's New York, 21 March 2002, lot 129© Christie's Images Ltd 2002.

Heavily potted and of octagonal section with slightly concave sides, each facet outlined by bamboo-carved borders and decorated in the center with a lion mask molded in high relief with ferocious expression, the mouth open to expose the fangs, the eyes bulging below furrowed brows and the nostrils hollowed, all framed by the incised, spreading mane, the top with a bowl-like grinding area below a flat rim of conforming octagonal outline, covered overall with a white glaze pooling to a slightly blue-green tone in the recesses, the underside similarly glazed, box. Estimate USD 300,000 - USD 400,000.

Provenance: Sotheby's, London, 6 July 1976, lot 72.
Sotheby's, London, 12 December 1989, lot 74, Collection of the British Rail Pension Fund.

Note: This mortar is a rare and important object, not only for its shape, but for the quality of the material from which it was made. The vessel is closely related to the fine Xing wares excavated from Sui and Tang dynasty sites in Hebei province. Sherds from these sites included an example bearing similar lion masks to those seen on the current mortar, but with curling manes. Such a sherd was displayed by archaeologists in association with a paper by Chen Yaocheng et al., 'A Study of Xing fine white porcelain of Sui and Tang Dynasties' published in Proceedings of 1989 International Symposium on Ancient Ceramics, Research Society of Science and Technology of Historical Ancient Ceramics/Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Shanghai, 1989, pp. 221-28. These fine Xing wares were discovered on the east side of Taihang hill, in the north-west Neiqui county, Hebei province, and it was in this region that fine Xing wares continued to be made in the Five Dynasties and Northern Song period.

Sotheby's. St George Street Sale: Asian Art, London, 09 Nov 2018.

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