Lot 496. A fine phosphatic-splashed oviform jar, Tang dynasty (618-907); 21.5cm (8 1/2in) high. Est: £4,000 - £6,000. Sold for £ 18,375 (€ 21,484). © Bonhams

Heavily potted on a flat foot with a bevelled edge rising steeply to a high well-rounded shoulder, turning inwards to a broad slightly-tapering neck and terminating in a rolled rim, set with a pair of loop handles on the shoulder issuing from thick stud bosses, the pale buff-grey stoneware body covered inside and out with an opaque chocolate-brown glaze stopping in an irregular curve above the foot and suffused with large flowing splashes of milky grey-blue.

The result of Oxford Authentication Ltd. thermoluminescence test no.P207m68, dated 17 December 2007, is consistent with the dating of this lot.

Published, Illustrated and Exhibited: Roger Keverne Ltd., Summer Exhibition, London, 2008, no.20.

Note: This type of jar was made at the Huangdao kiln in Jia County, Henan Province, which was discovered in 1964. Compare with a very similar jar illustrated in Porcelain of the Jin and Tang Dynasties: The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 1996, p.210, no.195. For other wide-mouthed examples see He Li, Chinese Ceramics: The New Standard Guide, London, 2006, no.152; and M.Sullivan, Chinese Ceramics Bronzes and Jades in the Collection of Sir Alan and Lady Barlow, London, 1963, pl.19c.

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