Lot 85. Property from The Alan and Simone Hartman Collection. A sancai and blue-glazed pottery lion, Tang Dynasty (618-907); 28cm high. Sold for US$24,320 (Estimate US$2,000-3,000). © Bonhams 2001-2025

Seated on a tall platform with its left forearm raised, wearing a collar of twisted rope attached with a small bell, drizzled overall with blue, yellow and green glaze over a creamy white slip.

Provenance: The Alan and Simone Hartman Collection

Lot 85. Property from The Alan and Simone Hartman Collection. A molded sancai-glazed rectangular pillow, Tang Dynasty (618-907); 11.3 x 9.6 x 6.2cm. Sold for US$8,320 (Estimate US$1,500-2,500). © Bonhams 2001-2025

Molded on opposing faces with floral medallions or arabesques in dynamic patterns, the decoration picked out in cream glaze on a simulated ring-punched green-glazed ground enclosed in an amber-glazed frame.

Provenance: The Alan and Simone Hartman Collection

Lot 87. A pair of sancai-glazed pottery camels, Tang Dynasty (618-907); 63.8cm and 64.5cm high (2). Sold for US$10,240 (Estimate US$10,000-15,000). © Bonhams 2001-2025

Each finely modeled and standing four-square with head held high, the quadtrefoil saddle blanket with fitted openings draped over the humps, the tall slender legs supported on a small rectangular base, the glaze with attractive brown, ocher and green with the humps, mane and mouth picked out in white, the base partially glazed revealing the buff pottery body.

The results of the thermoluminescence tests drawn from the ocher camel with splashed-green saddle blanket are consistent with the dating of the piece, Oxford Authentication certificate no. C199r28, 1 June 1999.

Lot 88. Property from The Alan and Simone Hartman Collection. A sancai-glazed tripod basin, Tang Dynasty (618-907); 28.6 cm diam. Sold for US$10,880 (Estimate US$5,000-8,000). © Bonhams 2001-2025

Brilliantly decorated with yellow and green over a white slip, the vessel with rounded base and straight sides rising to an everted rim, supported by three cabriole feet.

Provenance: The Alan and Simone Hartman Collection

The results of the thermoluminescence test are consistent with the dating of this piece, Oxford Authentication sample no. C124h14, 15 August 2024.

Lot 89. Property from The Alan and Simone Hartman Collection. A large sancai-glazed tripod dish, Tang Dynasty (618-907); 29.2 cm diam. Sold for US$32,000 (Estimate US$4,000-6,000). © Bonhams 2001-2025

The center impressed with a goose in flight amidst three cloud heads, encircled by eight radiating lily pads and flowers forming a medallion, the wall glazed in a resist-spotted yellow ground, the everted rim glazed green, the underside partially glazed ocher yellow and supported on three simple cabriole feet.

Provenance: The Alan and Simone Hartman Collection

The results of the thermoluminescence testing are consistent with the suggested dating of this lot, Oxford Authentication sample No. C124m26, 6 November 2024.

Lot 90. A pair of sancai-glazed pottery lion masks fittings, Tang Dynasty (618-907); 17.8cm long each (2). Sold for US$21,760 (Estimate US$3,000-5,000). © Bonhams 2001-2025

Each with open mouth and a small hole on the forehead, two perforations on the sides for attachment, the back unglazed showing buff pottery body.*

The results of the thermoluminescence test are consistent with the dating of this piece, Daybreak no.389A173, 2 April 1999.

Lot 91. Property from The Alan and Simone Hartman Collection. A sancai and blue-glazed pottery deep bowl, Tang Dynasty (618-907); 24.2 cm diam. Sold for US$15,360 (Estimate US$4,000-6,000). © Bonhams 2001-2025

Provenance: The Alan and Simone Hartman Collection

The results of the thermoluminescence testing are consistent with the suggested dating of this lot, Oxford Authentication sample No. C124h12, 14 August 2024.

Lot 93. Property from The Alan and Simone Hartman Collection. A sancai-glazed pottery figure of a Bactrian camel, Tang Dynasty (618-907); 54.6 x 38.8 x 14cm. Sold for US$25,600 (Estimate US$5,000-8,000). © Bonhams 2001-2025

Provenance: The Alan and Simone Hartman Collection

The results of the thermoluminescence testing are consistent with the suggested dating of this lot, Oxford Authentication sample No. C124m27, 6 November 2024.

Lot 95. Property from The Alan and Simone Hartman Collection. Two glazed pottery jars, Tang Dynasty (618-907); 18.8 and 14.5cm high (2). Sold for US$17,920 (Estimate US$1,500-2,500). © Bonhams 2001-2025

The globular jars with short neck and everted rim each rising from a small flat foot, the blue and green glazes stop at the lower body, revealing the buff clay body.

Provenance: The Alan and Simone Hartman Collection

Lot 99. A Xingyao shallow bowl with disc foot, Tang Dynasty (618-907); 12.8cm diam (fitted box). Sold for US$12,800 (Estimate US$10,000-15,000). © Bonhams 2001-2025

Well-potted with rounded sides and lipped rim, covered inside and out a translucent, blue-tinted glaze, the base with an incised ying character, the underside of the short straight foot unglazed showing the fine white porcelain body.

Provenance: Kobijutsū Mayahara, Osaka, 2005

Note: Shallow bowls of this type were produced at the Ding, Xing and Gongxian kilns during the Tang dynasty. The present example shows the very fine white porcelain body with a blue-tinted glaze, both classic characteristics of Xing ware. The elegant potting and beautifully incised ying character elevated this Xingyao bowl to one of the best in its category.

The discovery of a Xingyao shard bearing both Hanlin and ying marks at the ruins of Tang dynasty imperial treasury called Da ying ku, loosely translated as "The Storeroom of Great Abundance", sparked great interest and research on the ying-marked white porcelains. In the research essay "White Porcelains with Chinese Character 'Ying' from the Qinglongsi Temple Site" published in Kaogu yu wenwu (Archaeology and Cultural Relics), Xi'an, 1997, No. 6, the authors Zhai and Wang argued that the Qinglong temple enjoyed imperial patronage during the Tang dynasty, and the ying-marked Xingyao porcelains discovered at the site were most likely given to the temple as pious gifts from the emperor.

Bonhams. Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art including the Francine and Bernard Wald Collection of Fine Snuff Bottles, Part. New York, 17 March 2025