Lot 6. A burnished black pottery alms bowl, patra, Tang dynasty (618-907); 9 1/2in (24.1cm) diam. Sold for US$11,475 (Estimate US$1,000 - 1,500). © Bonhams 2001-2023

The spherical bowl thinly potted with inverted rim, covered inside and out in a thin layer of black burnished coating with 'wheel's marks' still visible, areas of chipped coating revealed the burnt-orange pottery body.

Published: Chinese Ceramics in Black and White, J.J. Lally & Co., New York, 2010, no. 7.

Exhibited: Chinese Ceramics in Black and White, J.J. Lally & Co., New York, March 20-April 10, 2010, no. 7.

Note: The black surface of this bowl may be the result of a reducing atmosphere induced during the firing to darken the clay, followed by the application of a coating of carbon and gypsum which was polished to a high gloss.

Compare the black pottery bowl at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, illustrated by An Jiayao in "Tang dai heitao taobo kao" (Study of the Tang Black Pottery Alms Bowls), Han Tang yu bianjiang kaogu yanjiu (Archaeological Study of the Han, Tang and Frontier Cultures), Vol. 1, Beijing, 1994, p. 259, pl. 2. The black pottery bowls mentioned by the author are described as "mo guang" and "shen tan," which may be translated as "polished" and "carbonized." The author also provides several other references to excavations at Tang dynasty Buddhist temple sites published in Kaogu and Kaogu Xuebao where similar black pottery alms bowls have been discovered.

Compare the black pottery bowl at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, illustrated by An Jiayao in "Tang dai heitao taobo kao" (Study of the Tang Black Pottery Alms Bowls), Han Tang yu bianjiang kaogu yanjiu (Archaeological Study of the Han, Tang and Frontier Cultures), Vol. 1, Beijing, 1994, p. 259, pl. 2. The black pottery bowls mentioned by the author are described as "mo guang" and "shen tan," which may be translated as "polished" and "carbonized." The author also provides several other references to excavations at Tang dynasty Buddhist temple sites published in Kaogu and Kaogu Xuebao where similar black pottery alms bowls have been discovered.

Bonhams. J. J. Lally & Co. Fine Chinese Works of Art, New York, March 20, 2023