Lot 120. A rare and massive ash-glazed proto-porcelain reticulated globular vase, Eastern Zhou dynasty, Warring States period, 4th-3rd Century; 20 1/4in high. Sold for US$21,675 (Estimate US$3,000-5,000). © Bonhams 2001-2023

With tall cylindrical neck that flares very slightly at the mouth, a wide band of impressed vertical cog-like ribs at the top of the neck, mirrored in another band at the top of the rounded shoulder, above three bands of continuous triangular piercings that circle the body, and a further wide band of impressed vertical cog-like ribs at the lower body, all under a most attractive fairly evenly-fired ash-green glaze over a gray stoneware body that fires to orange at the flat base.

Property from The Mary and Cheney Cowles Collection

Note: From the late Warring States period through the Han dynasty (206 BCE – CE 220), glazed stoneware vessels of this type, produced in northern Zhejiang and southern Jiangsu provinces, presumably for burial, appear to follow quite closely bronze prototypes, and are frequently decorated in an overall impressed pattern, often with a combination of incised lines, raised bands and cog-like ribbing.

Bonhams. CHINESE WORKS OF ART AND PAINTINGS, New York, March 20, 2023