Lot 440. Four early pottery vessels. Sold for £ 1,785 (€ 2,079). © Bonhams

Comprising a large green-glazed tripod cylindrical incense burner, lian, Han dynasty, heavily potted standing on three short stocky legs, all under an attractively-iridescent irregular silvery-green glaze, 20cm (8in) diam.; a dark-green-glazed oval 'ear cup', Han dynasty, 12.5cm (5in) long; a Gansu red pottery deep bowl, Neolithic period, 14.5cm (5 3/4in) diam.; and a small black pottery pear-shaped jar and a cover with high looped finial, Neolithic period, 10cm (4in) high.

Provenance: Professor Peter H. Plesch (1918-2013) and Mrs Traudi Plesch OBE (1922-2013) (ear cup)

Published, Illustrated and Exhibited: Roger Keverne Ltd., Winter Exhibition, London, 2006, no.23 (red pottery bowl)
Roger Keverne Ltd., Winter Exhibition, London, 2013, no.17 (black pottery vessel and cover)

The result of Oxford Authentication Ltd. thermoluminescence test no.C106w20 dated 4 September 2006, is consistent with the dating of this lot - (pottery bowl).

The result of Oxford Authentication Ltd. thermoluminescence test no.C113d84 dated 1 May 2013, is consistent with the dating of this lot - (black pottery vessel and cover).

Note: For a related red pottery bowl, see Origins of Chinese Civilization: Cultural Relics from Henan Province, Hong Kong, 2002, no.7. See also one excavated at Banpocun, Shaanxi Province, Yangshao culture, in the collection of the British Museum, illustrated by S.J.Vainker, Chinese Pottery and Porcelain: From Prehistory to the Present, London, 1991, fig.1 (right).

Bonhams. Roger Keverne Ltd Moving On (Part II), London, New Bond Street, 7 Jun 2021