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27 juin 2021

The Eugene and Elva Bernat white-glazed ‘Amphora’ vase, Tang dynasty (618-907)

The Eugene and Elva Bernat white-glazed ‘Amphora’ vase, Tang dynasty (618-907)

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Lot 37. The Eugene and Elva Bernat white-glazed ‘Amphora’ vase, Tang dynasty (618-907). H. 42.5 cm, 16¾ in. Estimate: 30,000 - 40,000 EUR. Lot sold: 47,880 EURCourtesy Sotheby's.

 elegantly potted, the slightly splayed foot swelling to high, rounded shoulders surmounted by a tall waisted neck molded with three raised rings and an everted galleried rim applied on each side with a molded florette, further florettes applied to the shoulder, surmounted by two curved double-strap handles applied with three studded bosses, terminating in dragon-head terminals biting the rim, covered overall with a finely crackled translucent glaze of pale yellowish tint stopping unevenly above the base to reveal the fine buff body.

Property from a French private collection.

Provenance: Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Eugene Bernat (1896-1982).
Sotheby’s New York, 7th November 1980, lot 54.
Christie’s New York, 4th June 1987, lot 156.

 

Exhibited: Early Chinese Ceramics, Currier Gallery of Art, Manchester, New Hampshire, 1959, no. 51.
Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, Massachusetts, on loan, prior to 1980.

Note: Tang amphorae of this flamboyant form, with freely modeled dragon heads, are among the most characteristic vessel forms of the early Tang dynasty and reflect the international spirit of the period. Their form was inspired by Hellenistic glass vases made in the Roman Empire whose style reached China via the Silk Route, where it was modified by the addition of dragon heads. One of the rare extant Roman glass vessels of this form, which is based on Greek pottery vessels, is the famous amphora found in Olbia on Sardinia, Italy, which can be dated to the 2nd half of the 2nd century AD, and is now on display in the Altes Museum, Berlin, Germany (fig. 1, 59.6 cm tall, cover replaced).

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Greek pottery amphora found in Olbia on Sardinia, Italy, 2nd half of the 2nd century AD, 59.6 cm tall, cover replaced, Altes Museum, Berlin, Germany.

While this form was frequently reproduced in China, the present piece is remarkable for its harmonious proportions, its applications around the shoulder and the raised ribs around its neck. An amphora with related applications and grooved ribs on the neck is in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Gugong Bowuyuan cang wenwu zhenpin quanji. Jin Tang ciqi/The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Porcelain of the Jin and Tang Dynasties, Hong Kong, 1996, no. 159, where it is noted how rare it is to find such amphorae with applied motifs.

White stoneware pieces of this type can be attributed to the Gongyi kilns in Henan province. Several white dragon-handled amphorae without applications are included in Zhongguo gu ciyao daxi. Zhongguo Gongyi yao/Series of China’s Ancient Porcelain Kiln Sites. Gongyi Kiln of China, Beijing, 2011, where it is suggested, pp. 325f., that pieces with long neck are predating pieces with short neck, and a colour-glazed example of very similar proportions, excavated from a tomb at Guanlin, Luoyang, illustrated fig. 4: 6, is attributed to the period of 618 – c. 690; several white pieces excavated from Tang tombs in the Gongyi region, fragments of similar dragon-head handles from the Baihe kiln site in Gongyi, and one further example from the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing, are illustrated, ibid., pp. 97-99; p. 262; p. 270, figs 7 and 8; p. 282, fig. 3; p. 309, fig. 16; and p. 413.

Sotheby's. Art d'Asie, Paris, 10June 2021

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