Lot 123. A sancai-glazed pottery amphora, Tang dynasty (618-907). Height 13 in., 33 cm. Estimate 6,000 — 8,000 USD. Lot Sold 12,500 USD. Courtesy Sotheby's. 

elegantly potted, the slightly splayed foot swelling to high, rounded shoulders surmounted by a tall waisted neck and everted lipped rim, set with two curved dragon-headed handles applied with spiral bosses extending from the mouth to the base of the neck, the top half amber-glazed with resist dappling and flecks of moss green, the bottom half unglazed revealing the buff fine-grained body.

Provenance: Warren E. Cox, New York.
Collection of Stephen Junkunc III (d.1978). 

Note: Known to be one of the most cosmopolitan periods in dynastic China, the Tang dynasty saw a flourishing of art inspired by the ideas, cultures and designs brought to China from distant lands over the Silk Road. 

The amphora form echoes the ancient Greek jar and draws from the vestiges of Hellenistic rule in the cities of western Central Asia. It has also been suggested that the shape is inspired by Roman metalwork and glass. The present vase is notable for its exceptionally graceful profile and vibrant, lustrous glaze. 

Vases of this type are in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, acc. no. 1984.483.3, and the Art Institute of Chicago, ref. no. 1924.286. Compare a few examples sold in these rooms: 8th July 1974, lot 41; 23rd October 1976, lot 192; 15th June 1983, lot 155; and 20th March 2012, lot 22. See also a related vase illustrated in R.L. Hobson, The Catalogue of the George Eumorfopoulos Collection of Chinese, Korean and Persian Pottery and Porcelain, London, 1925, vol. I, pl. LXVI, no. 326.

Sotheby's. Junkunc: Arts of Ancient China, New York, 9 March 2019