Lot 40. An olive-green glazed pottery flask and cover, Liao Dynasty (907-1125); 23cm high. Sold for €1,164. © Bonhams 2001-2024

Modelled after a leather prototype, the slightly rounded U-shaped sides bounded by sharply defined seams, joined at the top by a flat vertical flange with a wide notch featuring a seated monkey, flanked on both sides by a small circular aperture and abutting on one side the short cylindrical neck with a lipped rim, with a domed cover, covered overall with a lustrous dark olive-green glaze collecting around the edges of the slightly concave base.

Provenance: A European private collection.

Note: Compare with a pair of flasks covered with a brilliant green glaze, from the collection of the British Rail Pension Fund, sold Sotheby's London, 12 December 1989, lot 70, where the footnote lists several examples of such flasks whose shape was inspired by a leather model, excavated from dated Liao tombs.

Bonhams. CHINESE ART, Paris, 12 June 2024