Lot 669. Collector/Connoisseur: The Max N. Berry Collections. A small gold and silver-inlaid bronze tiger-form weight, Western Han dynasty (206 BC-AD 8); 5.1 cm wide. Price realised USD 15,240 (Estimate USD 15,000 – USD 25,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

Provenance: J. J. Lally & Co., New York, 21 February 1998, no. x1014..

Literature : J. J. Lally & Co., Arts of the Han Dynasty, New York, 1998, no. 24.

Exhibited : New York, J. J. Lally & Co., Arts of the Han Dynasty, 25 March-11 April 1998.

Lot 670. Collector/Connoisseur: The Max N. Berry Collections. A small bronze circular mirror with diamond-shaped design, Late Warring States period, 4th-3rd century BC; 5.1 cm wide. Price realised USD 7,620 (Estimate USD 8,000 – USD 12,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

Provenance: Ellis Monroe, New York, by 1951.

Richard (1943-2014) and Rachel (1944-2015) Bull Collection, Villanova, Pennsylvania.

Important Chinese Works of Art: The Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Richard C. Bull; Sotheby's New York, 6 December 1983, lot 4.

J. J. Lally & Co., New York, 30 November 2000..

Literature : E. Lyons, An Exhibition of Chinese Mirrors, New York, 1951, cat. no. 6.

Exhibited : New York, China House Gallery, Chinese Art Society of America, An Exhibition of Chinese Mirrors, 2 February-3 April 1951.

Lot 671. Collector/Connoisseur: The Max N. Berry Collections. A bronze bell, Bo Zhong, Eastern Zhou dynasty (770-256 BC); 22.8 cm high, metal and softwood stand. Price realised USD 48,260 (Estimate USD 20,000 – USD 30,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

Provenance: J. J. Lally & Co., New York, 9 February 2007.

Lot 672. Collector/Connoisseur: The Max N. Berry Collections. A large green-glazed red pottery cylindrical tripod vessel and cover, lian, Han dynasty (206 BC-AD 220); 23 cm high. Price realised USD 6,985 (Estimate USD 3,000 – USD 5,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

Provenance: J. J. Lally & Co., New York, 2 January 2002, no. 3490.

Lot 673. Collector/Connoisseur: The Max N. Berry Collections. A very rare large gilt-bronze dragon head finial, Han dynasty-Six Dynasties period (206 BC-AD 589); 24.1 cm long, lucite stand. Price realised USD 27,940 (Estimate USD 25,000 – USD 35,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

Provenance: Roger Keverne, London, 8 April 2003.

Note : The present gilt-bronze dragon finial is impressive and unusual for its large size, powerful casting, and the survival of its tubular receptacle. Closely related dragon finials are typically smaller, often with closed mouths and paired horns, and they usually lack a tubular sleeve. For comparison, see the example in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, illustrated by J. Watt in “The Arts of Ancient China,” The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, n.s., 48, no. 1 (Summer 1990), pp. 40-1, cat. no. 49.

By contrast, the present finial is cast with a single horn and an open, animated mouth, the jaws parted to reveal sharp teeth and a protruding tongue, lending the head a vivid sense of forward motion. The long, slightly tapering tubular element at the rear suggests that the finial was fitted as a terminal—possibly sleeved over a wooden pole or staff—though its precise function remains uncertain. Only one other closely comparable example appears to be recorded: a gilt-bronze dragon finial in the Miho Museum, Koka, Japan, dated to the Six Dynasties period, 6th century. (https://www.miho.jp/booth/html/artcon/00000431e

Lot 674. Collector/Connoisseur: The Max N. Berry Collections. A small bronze 'bear' tuning key, Han dynasty (206 BC-AD 220);  9.2 cm high, lucite stand, cloth box. Price realised USD 13,970 (Estimate USD 6,000 – USD 8,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

Provenance: J. J. Lally & Co., New York, 19 March 2001.

Literature : J. J. Lally & Co., Ancient China: Music and Ritual, 2001, no. 12.

Exhibited : New York, J. J. Lally & Co., Ancient China: Music and Ritual, 20 March-7 April 2001.

Note : The function of tuning keys (qin zhen yao) was not well-understood until the 1983 excavation of the second-century BC tomb of the King of Nanyue, in Guangzhou, Guandong province, in which bronze tuning keys were found together with a set of tuning pegs for a qin. Qin zhen yao were used to tighten the pegs on which the strings of a qin are wound.

A variety of tuning keys are illustrated by B. Lawergren in his essay “Strings”, included in the exhibition catalogue edited by J. So, Music in the Age of Confucius, Washington, D.C., 2000, pp. 65-85. All of the tuning keys illustrated by Lawergren have various zoomorphic forms adorning their ends, including one with a bear-form finial (p. 78, fig. 3.9.3c) in the collection of the Freer Gallery of Art that is comparable in design and identical in size to the present lot. See, also, a similar but slightly smaller (8.3 cm. high) tuning key surmounted by a bear with a slit mechanism in its back that sold at Christie’s New York, 21 September 2000, lot 175.

Lot 675. Collector/Connoisseur: The Max N. Berry Collections. A bronze duck-form censer and reticulated cover, Han dynasty (206 BC-AD 220);. Pan:  19 cm diam. Price realised USD 24,130 (Estimate USD 7,000 – USD 9,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

Provenance: Spink & Son Ltd., London, 13 April 1999.

Lot 676. Collector/Connoisseur: The Max N. Berry Collections. A gilt-bronze dragon-head finial, Han dynasty (206 BC-AD 220);  14.3 cm long, lucite and composite stand. Price realised USD 48,260 (Estimate USD 30,000 – USD 50,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

Provenance: J. J. Lally & Co., New York, 21 February 1998.

Literature : J. J. Lally & Co., Arts of the Han Dynasty, New York, 1998, no. 29.

S. Moore, "In the Galleries", Art+Auction, March 1998.

W. Moonan, "Antiques: Simplicity in Bronze", The New York Times, 27 March 1998, section E, p. 41.

Exhibited : New York, J. J. Lally & Co., Arts of the Han Dynasty, 25 March-11 April 1998.

Note : This finely cast fitting is very similar to one excavated from Han tomb no. 2 at Ganquan in Hanjiang, Jiangsu province, and illustrated in Wenwu, 1981:11, pl. 2, fig. 5, and p. 6, fig. 15. See, also, the similar fitting from the Eastern Han tomb of Xianyu Huang (d. AD 125) near Lancheng in Wuqing county, Hebei province, illustrated in Kaogu Xuebao, 1982:3, pl. 19, fig. 2. Compare another similar fitting formerly in the collection of Adolphe Stoclet (1871-1949), sold at A Collecting Journey: The Jane and Leopold Swergold Collection; Sotheby's New York, 18 March 2025, lot 145.

Lot 677. Collector/Connoisseur: The Max N. Berry Collections. A pair of painted pottery figures of kneeling dancers, Western Han dynasty (206 BC-AD 8). The taller: 23 cm high. Price realised USD 20,320 (Estimate USD 7,000 – USD 10,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

Provenance: J. J. Lally & Co., New York, 19 March 2001.

Literature : J. J. Lally & Co., Ancient China: Music & Ritual, New York, 2001, no. 20.

Exhibited : New York, J. J. Lally & Co., Ancient China: Music & Ritual, 20 March-7 April 2001.

Lot 678. Collector/Connoisseur: The Max N. Berry Collections. A painted grey pottery figure of a standing lady, Han dynasty (206 BC-AD 220); 31.8 cm high, fitted composite stand. Price realised USD 11,430 (Estimate USD 10,000 – USD 15,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

Provenance: Tai Sing Fine Antiques Ltd., Hong Kong.

J. J. Lally & Co., New York, 25 February 1999, ino. 2442.

Lot 679. Collector/Connoisseur: The Max N. Berry Collections. A Yue celadon recumbent ram-form vessel, Western Jin dynasty (265-316); 17.5 cm long. Price realised USD 60,960 (Estimate USD 10,000 – USD 15,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

Provenance:  J. J. Lally & Co., New York, 25 February 1999.

Literature : J. J. Lally & Co., Ancient China: Jades, Bronzes & Ceramics, New York, 1999, no. 37.

Exhibited : New York, J. J. Lally & Co., Ancient China: Jades, Bronzes & Ceramics, 24 March-10 April 1999.

Lot 680. Collector/Connoisseur: The Max N. Berry Collections. A finely modeled painted grey pottery figure of a caparisoned horse, Northern Wei dynasty (386-535); 17.5 cm long. Price realised USD 30,480 (Estimate USD 12,000 – USD 18,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

Provenance:  J. J. Lally & Co., New York, 15 October 2001.

Lot 681. Collector/Connoisseur: The Max N. Berry Collections. A silvery-bronze circular'zodiac' mirror, Tang dynasty (616-907); 14.9 cm diam., fitted composite stand. Price realised USD 22,860 (Estimate USD 12,000 – USD 18,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

There is a single character, geng, the seventh symbol of the decimal cycle in the zodiac calendar, cast above the rat. Eight further characters, each within a petal-shaped cartouche, are cast within a square band that surrounds the tortoise-form knop. They may be read as lang zhi cheng zhen, wei wu zheng shen, which may be translated as "the bright substance (of this mirror) is pure and true, by this means the gods may be called upon to the benefit of all."

Provenance: Austin Family Collection, acquired in the 1920s.

J. J. Lally & Co., New York, 7 January 2005, no. 3896.

Note: A very similar mirror, in the Idemitsu Museum of Arts, Tokyo, was included in the exhibition, Toukyou (Tang Mirrors), Sen-oku Hakuko Kan Museum, Kyoto, 2006, no. 61. Another is illustrated by W. P. Yetts, The Eumorfopoulos Collection, vol. II, London, 1930, pl. XIV, no. B 25.

Lot 682. Collector/Connoisseur: The Max N. Berry Collections. A very rare large  gold and silver-inlaid lacqured bronze mirror, Tang dynasty (616-907); 23.8 cm diam., lucite stand, cloth box. Price realised USD 215,900 (Estimate USD 12,000 – USD 18,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

Provenance : Eskenazi Ltd., London, 23 March 2002.

Note : The present mirror is lavishly inlaid with gold and silver sheet with birds, butterflies, clouds and flowers. Mirrors of this type, with their rich combination of gold and silver decoration on a lacquer ground set into the back of the bronze mirror, reflect the splendor and sumptuous taste of the Tang court. Mirrors similar to the present example found their way to Japan at an early date, such as the similarly decorated eight-lobed mirror in the Shoso-in, illustrated by Ryochi Hayashi, The Silk Road and the Shoso-in, New York/Tokyo, 1975, p. 129, fig. 142. See, also, an eight-lobed example with flowers and birds in the Cleveland Museum of Art illustrated by J. C. Y. Watt and P. Harper in China: Dawn of a Golden Age, 200-750 AD, New York, 2004, p. 322, no. 217. Neither of these examples, however, is as densely decorated as the present example.

Lot 683. Collector/Connoisseur: The Max N. Berry Collections. A small silvery-bronze circular 'Chang'e and rabbit' mirror, Tang dynasty (616-907); 11.4 cm diam., lucite and metal stand, cloth box. Price realised USD 15,240 (Estimate USD 6,000 – USD 8,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

Provenance : J. J. Lally & Co., New York, 10 December 2002.

Note : The imagery depicted on this mirror represents the Moon Palace, which is occupied by a hare that pounds the Elixir of Immortality at the foot of the osmanthus tree, and is also inhabited by Chang'e who stole the elixir from her husband Hou Yi. The toad represents the embodiment of Chang'e.

A similar bronze mirror is illustrated by Wang Shilun and Wang Mu in Zhejiang chutu tongjing (Bronze Mirrors Excavated from Zhejiang), Beijing 2006, black and white pl. 117. Another bronze mirror of similar design, but of slightly larger size (13.8 cm.), is in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, acc. no. 25.24 (https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/61405). See, also, the bronze mirror with similar design, but in reverse, from The Springfield Museum, Springfield, Massachusetts, sold at Christie’s New York, 22 March 2013, lot 1151.

Lot 684. Collector/Connoisseur: The Max N. Berry Collections. A silvery-bronze lobed 'lotus' mirror, Tang dynasty (616-907); 16.8 cm diam., composite stand. Price realised USD 10,795 (Estimate USD 6,000 – USD 8,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

Provenance : J. J. Lally & Co., New York, 25 February 1999, no. 2463.

Note: Compare the related octalobed mirror of larger size (18.9 cm.) in the Sumitomo Collection, which is decorated with a central eight-petaled flower surrounded by flower scroll, illustrated in the exhibition catalogue, Chinese Bronze Mirrors, Sen-Oku Hakuko Kan, Kyoto, 8 January-6 March 2011, no. 151, where it is dated Tang dynasty, ca. 757-845.

Lot 685. Collector/Connoisseur: The Max N. Berry Collections. A gilt and silver-backed bronze lobed mirror, Tang dynasty (616-907); 17.8 cm diam. Price realised USD 165,100 (Estimate USD 10,000 – USD 15,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

Provenance : Eskenazi Ltd., London, 23 March 2002.

Lot 686. Collector/Connoisseur: The Max N. Berry Collections. A silvery-bronze lobed 'bird and cloud' mirror, Tang dynasty (616-907); 15.2 cm diam., metal stand. Price realised USD 16,510 (Estimate USD 15,000 – USD 25,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

Provenance : Ellis Monroe, New York, 18 December 1948.

Dr. Franco Vannotti (1910–1995) Collection, Lugano, Switzerland.

Eskenazi Ltd., London.

J. J. Lally & Co., New York, 20 February 1997.

Literature : E. Lyons, An Exhibition of Chinese Mirrors, New York, 1951, cat. no. 48.

J.-P. Dubosc, Mostra d'Arte Cinese, Venice, 1954, p. 32, cat. no. 133.

H. Brinker, Bronzen aus dem alten China, 1975, p. 140, cat. no. 101.

W. Watson, Art of Dynastic China, New York, 1979, p. 486, no. 425.

Eskenazi, The collection of ritual bronze vessels, weapons, gilt bronzes, mirrors and ceramics formed by Dr. Franco Vannotti; The ritual bronze fang yi and Korean ceramics from the Hans Popper collection; Gold and silver from the Yamaoka Seibei and other collections, 1989, pp. 92-3, cat. no. 41.: 

Exhibited: New York, China House Gallery, Chinese Art Society of America, An Exhibition of Chinese Mirrors, 2 February-3 April 1951.

Venice, Palazzo Ducale, Mostra d'Arte Cinese, 1954.

Zurich, Rietberg Museum, Bronzen aus dem alten China, 11 November 1975-29 February 1976.

London, Eskenazi, The collection of ritual bronze vessels, weapons, gilt bronzes, mirrors and ceramics formed by Dr. Franco Vannotti; The ritual bronze fang yi and Korean ceramics from the Hans Popper collection; Gold and silver from the Yamaoka Seibei and other collections, 13 June-7 July 1989.

Lot 687. Collector/Connoisseur: The Max N. Berry Collections. A very rare large silvery-bronze 'five peaks' circular mirror, Tang dynasty (616-907); 24.8 cm diam., metal stand. Price realised USD 50,800 (Estimate USD 20,000 – USD 30,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

Provenance : J. J. Lally & Co., New York, 7 January 2005, no. 3941.

Note : This style of mirror is often referred to in Chinese texts as a “Five Sacred Peaks” mirror. The five mountains it alludes to are the revered peaks of Taishan in the east (Shandong), Huashan in the west (Shaanxi), Hengshan in the north (Shanxi), Hengshan in the south (Hunan), and Songshan at the center of China (Henan).

The depiction of the ‘five peaks’ landscape on this mirror is exceedingly rare, and only two other examples appear to have been published. One (24 cm.) is in the Seattle Art Museum, Eugene Fuller Memorial Collection, illustrated by M. Knight in “Bronze in Chinese Culture from the Shang to the Tang Dynasty,” Orientations, August 1994, pp. 25-34, fig. 16. Also, see, the example (18 cm.) in the Shaanxi Historical Museum, illustrated by J. Kasler and T. Berger in the exhibition catalogue Tomb Treasures from China, The Buried Ancient Xi’an, San Francisco, 1994, p. 76, no. 58. A third related bronze ‘five peaks’ mirror, but much larger (18 ½ in.) than the present example, is preserved at the Horyuji Temple in Nara, Japan. See Great Museums of the World, National Museum, Tokyo, Milan, 1968, p. 30. While there is some debate amongst scholars as to whether the Horyuji mirror is in fact Chinese or Japanese, it has been in the temple since the 8th century and is now listed as a National Treasure of Japan.

Lot 688. Collector/Connoisseur: The Max N. Berry Collections. A small silver-backed bronze octogonal mirror, Tang dynasty (616-907); 5.1 cm wide, lucite and metal stand. Price realised USD 19,050 (Estimate USD 4,000 – USD 6,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

Provenance : Eskenazi Ltd., London, 25 March 2008, no. c1439.

Lot 689. Collector/Connoisseur: The Max N. Berry Collections. A small silver-backed bronze hexafoil mirror, Tang dynasty (616-907); 5.7 cm wide, lucite and metal stand. Price realised USD 19,050 (Estimate USD 4,000 – USD 6,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

Provenance : Eskenazi Ltd., London, 25 March 2008, no. c1585.

Lot 690. Collector/Connoisseur: The Max N. Berry Collections. A small blue and sancai-glazed rectangular 'duck' pillow, Tang dynasty (618-907); 12.1 cm wide. Price realised USD 35,560 (Estimate USD 7,000 – USD 9,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

Provenance:  Priestley & Ferraro, London, 22 March 2001

Lot 692. Collector/Connoisseur: The Max N. Berry Collections. A rare pair of blue and sancai-glazed pottery figures of court ladies, Tang dynasty (618-907). The taller:  39 cm high, composite stands. Price realised USD 44,450 (Estimate USD 40,000 – USD 60,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

Provenance:  Berwald Oriental Art, New York, 5 April 2006.

Literature : Berwald Oriental Art, Blue Glaze of the Tang, New York, 2006, pp. 30-1, no. 7.

Exhibited : New York, Berwald Oriental Art, Blue Glaze of the Tang, 28 March-15 April 2006.

Note : These delicate sancai-glazed figures of ladies are elegantly dressed and exhibit the rich inclusion of the cobalt blue glaze reserved for the finest Tang-dynasty pottery figures. One of the ladies holds a delicate fan resting against one shoulder. While seated examples of Tang pottery ladies exist holding a floral stem that rests on one shoulder, the fan is a very unusual and sophisticated accessory.

The results of Oxford Authentication Ltd. thermoluminescence test nos. C205b46 and C205b47 are consistent with the dating of this lot.

Lot 693. Collector/Connoisseur: The Max N. Berry Collections. A set of twelve painted pottery and gilt figures of seated musicians and dansers, Tang dynasty (618-907). Each:  16.5 cm high. Price realised USD 101,600 (Estimate USD 30,000 – USD 50,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

The set comprises two dancers and ten seated musicians, each playing an instrument, including the qin, pipa (lute), and xiao (flute).

Provenance:  Eskenazi Ltd., London, 20 July 2001.

Note : Music and dance were highly popular at the Tang court, and the costumes and coiffures of these musicians and dancers reflect the fashion for women during the Tang dynasty. The present group features beautiful features like the finely rendered faces and the elegant garments and sleeves of the dancers. The musicians, each kneeling on a flat, square base, with the hair pulled up in a top knot, include: two playing the xiao (flute), two with the pipa (lute), two with the pai xiao (panpipe), and two more with a smaller type of panpipe. One plays a percussion instrument, probably a linggu (tambourine) and another plays the sheng (harmonica). They are accompanied by two kneeling dancers on similar bases, both with hair set in a double knot secured by a tiara. Each figure wears layered tunics featuring long, flared sleeves, and wide, voluminous trousers, with some details on the tiaras, necklaces and shoes accented in gold. The arms are raised and stretched in elegant, mirrored poses.

A painted pottery group of ten seated female musicians and a pair of standing figures shown in the midst of sleeve-tossing dance gestures, is illustrated by R. Hayashi in The Silk Road and the Shoso-in, New York/Tokyo, 1975, p. 96, no. 103. See, also, another group of ten female musicians and two dancers of slightly larger size (8 ¼ in. high), each with double top knot and finely molded robes, illustrated by R. Jacobsen in Celestial Horses and Long Sleeve Dancers, The David W. Dewey Collection of Ancient Chinese Tomb Sculpture, Minneapolis, 2013, pp. 190-91.

The results of Oxford Authentication Ltd. thermoluminescence test nos. C101e16 and C101e17 are consistent with the dating of this lot (one musician and one dancer).

Lot 694. Collector/Connoisseur: The Max N. Berry Collections. A rare large painted pottery figure of a court lady with a dog, Tang dynasty (618-907); 52 cm high. Price realised USD 95,250 (Estimate USD 50,000 – USD 70,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

Provenance : Eskenazi Ltd., London, 23 March 2001, no. c2858.

Literature : Eskenazi Ltd., Tang Ceramic Sculpture, London, 2001, pp. 16, 49 and 51, no. 4.

Eskenazi Ltd., A Dealer's Hand, The Chinese Art World through the eyes of Giuseppe Eskenazi, London, 2012, p. 269, pl. 236.

Exhibited : ​​​​​​​New York, Pace Wildenstein Gallery, Eskenazi Ltd., Tang Ceramic Sculpture, 19-31 March 2001.

Note : Under Emperor Xuanzong (r. AD 712-756), Tang court ladies aspired for ample, corpulent figures, and female fashion trended towards lengthy, shapeless robes and elaborately coiffed hairdos. These developments are often attributed to the ascendancy of the emperor’s favorite consort, Yang Guifei (AD 719-756), who embodied these attributes. This rosy-cheeked court lady tenderly holding a dog not only demonstrates the popularity of this style but also speaks to a new culture of leisure and the increased status of urban women in the high Tang.

Ceramic court ladies holding dogs are relatively uncommon; a comparable in the collection of the Tokyo National Museum was published in M. Medley, T’ang Pottery and Porcelain, London, 1981, p. 50, pl. 40. A similar figure featuring a congji hairstyle is included in a set of three ladies in R. Jacobsen, Celestial Horses and Long Sleeve Dancers, Minneapolis, 2013, pp. 180-81. Also compare the figure sold at Sotheby’s New York, 11 September 2019, lot 523.

The result of Oxford Authentication Ltd. thermoluminescence test no. C200f48 is consistent with the dating of this lot.

Lot 695. Collector/Connoisseur: The Max N. Berry Collections. A magnificent pair of large gilt-decorated and painted pottery figures of guardians, Tang dynasty (618-907). The taller: 95.3 cm high. Price realised USD 368,300 (Estimate USD 120,000 – USD 180,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

Provenance : Kaikodo, New York, 26 March 1999.

Literature : ​​​​​​​Kaikodo Journal, New York, Spring 1999, pp. 184-87 and pp. 304-5, no. 57.

Exhibited : New York, Kaikodo, In the Company of Spirits, 16 March-17 April 1999.

Note : As noted in the introductory essay by Rosemary Scott, this pair of spectacular figures of guardians is remarkable for the preservation of the vibrantly painted colors on the garments and the lavish gilding. The tunics and sleeves are boldly painted with luxurious floral designs, in red, blue, green, black and white, along with patterns imitating armor. The designs on the back of the figures are as striking as those on the front, and the combination of the richly designed decorative motifs and the top quality of the molding indicate that these figures were created for a person of great rank and importance. The figures are seen confidently standing on top of a deer and a bull, each with finely rendered musculature and facial features. Very few pairs of painted pottery guardians of this size and quality have survived. A painted pottery guardian figure, elaborately armored but of smaller size (71.1 cm.) than the present figures, is in the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, and is illustrated in The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art: A Handbook of the Collection, New York, 1993, p. 293. Another elaborate, but smaller (61 and 55 cm.) pair of painted pottery and gilt guardian figures is illustrated by R. Jacobsen in Celestial Horses and Long Sleeve Dancers, The David W. Dewey Collection of Ancient Chinese Tomb Sculpture, Minneapolis, 2013, pp. 248-49.

Pairs of painted pottery figures of this type, as well as sancai-glazed examples, were placed in the entry corridor of tombs. They were accompanied by pairs of officials and pairs of earth spirits, as evidenced by the location of such figures in the previously undisturbed Tang dynasty tomb of General An Pu discovered at Longmen, Luoyang (See R.L. Thorp, Son of Heaven: Imperial Art of China, Seattle, 1988, pp. 199-205). They are generally modeled with fierce scowling expressions and threatening stances, and they carry on the tradition of the massive stone guardian figures (lishi) that were positioned at the entrances to cave-shrines during the Tang dynasty.

For a large (123 cm.) and imposing sancai figure of this type shown standing on a recumbent bull, see the example illustrated in The Tsui Museum of Art - Chinese Ceramics I: Neolithic to Liao, Hong Kong, 1993, pl. 119. See, also, a pair of massive (103 and 96 cm.) sancai pottery guardian figures sold at Christie’s New York, 29 October 2019, lot 1008.

The result of Oxford Authentication Ltd. thermoluminescence test no. C198t32 is consistent with the dating of this lot.

Lot 696. Collector/Connoisseur: The Max N. Berry Collections. A rare large painted and gilt-decorated pottery figure of a prostating official, Tang dynasty (618-907); 54.3 cm long, rotating fitted softwood stand. Price realised USD 82,550 (Estimate USD 70,000 – USD 100,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

Provenance : J. J. Lally & Co., New York, 1999.

Christie's New York, 20 March 2014, lot 2067.

Note : This very rare figure of a male courtier is shown in an unusual posture of obeisance, with hands clasped and pierced to hold a hu tablet. It is unusually large and beautifully modeled with life-like features set in an intense expression. It is similar to another large painted pottery figure of an official shown in an equally prostrate position and with his head held in a similar manner. This figure from Shaanxi province is illustrated in Wenwu, 1954:10, pl. 55, and is also illustrated by J. Fontein and R. Hempel in the exhibition catalogue China. Korea. Japan, Berlin, 1968, pl. XIX. The figure wears a similar court hat and full robes, painted red, that fan in curves around the arms. As with the present figure, there is a slit in the top of the clasped hands for the insertion of a hu tablet. These tablets were made of ivory and carried by court officials while in the imperial presence, and are thought to have been used as early as the Tang dynasty. An ivory tablet of this kind is illustrated in the Oriental Ceramic Society exhibition catalogue, Chinese Ivories from the Shang to the Qing, London, 1984, pp. 142-43, no. 158. See, also, another similar figure, shown in a less prostrate posture, but wearing a similar court hat and robes, sold at Christie's New York, 22 March 1999, lot 251.

​​​​​​​The result of Oxford Authentication Ltd. thermoluminescence test no. C199p47 is consistent with the dating of this lot.

Lot 697. Collector/Connoisseur: The Max N. Berry Collections. A superb and very rare painted brown and sancai-glazed pottery figure of an equestrial hunter, Tang dynasty (618-907); 39.4 cm high. Price realised USD 82,550 (Estimate USD 80,000 – USD 120,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

Provenance : Christie's New York, 1 December 1988, lot 237.
The Property of a Gentleman, Christie's New York, 16 March 2015, lot 3228.
J. J. Lally & Co., New York.

Note: While polo was played by both men and women at the Tang dynasty court and was especially encouraged by the Tang Emperors Taizong and Xuanzong, the other courtly activity enjoyed on horseback was hunting. This very popular activity was pursued by both male and female members of the Tang aristocracy. An imperial hunting party is depicted in a mural on the wall of the tomb of Li Xian (AD 653-84), which was created by Crown Prince Zhanghuai after his brother’s death in 672, but was forced to commit suicide on the orders of Empress Wu. In 706, following the death of Empress Wu in 705 and the ascent to the throne of Emperor Zhongzong, Li Xian was reinterred at the Qianling Mausoleum northwest of the capital Xi’an with full honours. It is in this tomb that the hunting mural appears (illustrated in Imperial China – The Art of the Horse in Chinese History, Lexington, Kentucky, 2000, pp. 162-3, figs. 152-4), showing horses at full gallop and some huntsmen carrying banners, while others have cheetahs perched on the backs of their saddles, and a number carry quivers and bows similar to those carried by the current sancai-glazed huntsman. Huntsmen riding powerful horses and shooting their prey with bows and arrows while at the gallop also appear on Tang dynasty silver vessels, such as the goblet excavated in 1963 from a cellar in Shapocun, Xi’an (illustrated by Li Jian (ed.), The Glory of the Silk Road – Art from Ancient China, Dayton, Ohio, 2003, p. 196, no. 105).

Two marbled earthenware sancai-glazed models of mounted huntsmen, of approximately the same size as the current figure, have been excavated from the tomb of Li Xian’s brother, Prince Yide (d. AD 701), whose tomb is also at the Qianling Mausoleum. One of these Yide mounted figures is illustrated in The Glory of the Silk Road – Art from Ancient China, op. cit., p. 173, no. 88, where it is noted that similarly mounted huntsmen were found in the tomb of the prince’s sister, Princess Yongtai. The other mounted huntsman from Prince Yide’s tomb is illustrated in World of the Heavenly Khan – Treasures of the T’ang Dynasty,  Taipei, 2002, p. 128. This figure is shown in a pose suggesting that he is using a bow and arrow to shoot a bird that flies above him. A further marbled earthenware, sancai-glazed figure of a mounted huntsman, of similar size to the current figure, was excavated in 1972 in Qianxian, Shaanxi province (illustrated by the National Museum of Chinese History in A Journey into China’s Antiquity, vol. III, Beijing, 1997, p. 112, no. 111). Like the current huntsman, the Qianxian huntsman has a quiver hanging from his belt.

While the horses ridden by the huntsmen from Lide’s tomb and the Qianxian find are plain dark bay and rather heavy, the current horse is powerful but elegant with well-modeled legs and a proud head. Its dark chestnut coat is splashed with cream and green, suggesting an elaborate version of piebald. It is possible that the group originally had reins, made of an organic material that has not survived from the 8th century, as the rider holds his hands before him as if lightly holding reins.

Rosemary Scott
Independent Scholar
 

Lot 698. Collector/Connoisseur: The Max N. Berry Collections. A very rare exceptional painted and sancai-glazed pottery figure of a female polo player, Tang dynasty (618-907); 34.6 cm high. Price realised USD 177,800 (Estimate USD 80,000 – USD 120,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

Provenance : J. J. Lally & Co., New York, 1996.

Literature : J. J. Lally & Co., Early Dynastic China: Works of Art from Shang to Song, New York, 1996, no. 11.
R. Jacobsen, Celestial Horses and Long Sleeve Dancers, The David W. Dewey Collection of Ancient Chinese Tomb Sculpture, Minneapolis, 2013, p. 208, fig. 4.10 (detail).

Exhibited: New York, J. J. Lally & Co., Early Dynastic China: Works of Art from Shang to Song, 26 March-26 April 1996.

Note : Among the most dynamic ceramic sculptures created during the Tang dynasty are those portraying polo players mid-action, leaning from their saddles to strike with their mallets. In the present exceptional example, the sculptor vividly conveys both the motion of the horse and the poised athleticism of the rider, capturing the scene with remarkable vitality.

Polo was a particularly popular activity at the Tang court and was played by both men and women. Polo was specifically encouraged by two Tang emperors, Taizong (r. AD 626-649) and Xuanzong (r. AD 712-56). It was not only seen as an exciting game, but as being excellent for the development of certain useful skills, which, in the case of the young men of the court, could be applied to military activities. It is significant that a spirited polo match, involving more than 20 horsemen, is depicted in a mural on one side of the entrance tunnel to the tomb of Li Xian, Crown Prince Zhanghuai, dated circa AD 706 (see Treasures of Tang Mural Paintings from the Tomb of Prince Zhanghuai, Beijing, 2002, p. 30, fig. 14). The mural in his tomb shows the players using stirrups, which is not always the case for Tang equestrians, but which can clearly be seen on the current ceramic figure. More significantly, the mural’s appearance in this royal tomb is indicative of the importance of polo at the Tang court of the early 8th century.

It is notable that women in the Tang dynasty enjoyed a level of freedom far greater than that permitted in later periods. In the early Tang era, women typically traveled in small ox-drawn carriages, but by the mid-dynasty they were also riding horses themselves, sitting astride and dressed in Western-influenced attire featuring fitted jackets and wide-brimmed, veiled hats. This headgear was, unsurprisingly, set aside during polo matches and gradually fell out of use in women’s daily dress as the dynasty progressed. Indeed, when engaged in polo, women’s clothing closely resembled that worn by men.

The present figure of a female polo player is remarkable in many ways. Most Tang-dynasty pottery figures of polo players depict the rider turning in the direction of the horse’s inwardly curved neck. (See a rare and important figure of a female polo player on a galloping horse from The British Rail Pension Fund, sold at Christie’s New York, 14-15 September 2017, lot 1110). The current polo player, however, turns her torso and arm in the opposite direction of the horse’s neck, in one dynamic and focused movement.

Additionally, as noted above, the female rider is shown wearing Western attire, known as hufu (barbarian clothing), featuring a tunic with fitted sleeves over a quilted vest, and with knee-length trousers. As the rider concentrates on turning her body to strike the ball, the right sleeve of the tunic falls to reveal the brilliantly painted vest, detailed with foliate motifs in bright red, green and blue pigments. The vivid design of the vest is very rare to find on Tang female polo players and few appear to have survived. One very rare and closely comparable example to the present figure, from the collection of Dr. William Goldstein, is illustrated by R. Harrist Jr. and V. Bower in Power and Virtue, The Horse in Chinese Art, New York, 1997, p. 77, no. 13. A further rare group of four female polo players of similar size to the present example (35.5 cm. high), with at least one exhibiting a painted vest and sleeve, is in the Luoyang Institute of Archaeology and was recently published by A. Betrand and Huei-chung Tsao in “Tang China: A Cosmopolitan Dynasty,” Orientations, Hong Kong, Vol. 56, no. 1, January/February 2025, p. 15, fig. 4. A Tang-dynasty painting from the tomb of Zhang Lichen (AD 655–702), unearthed at Astana in Xinjiang in 1972 and published in Zhongguo wenwu Jinghua (Gems of China’s Cultural Relics), 1993, no. 129, depicts a female dancer wearing a vest adorned with foliate motifs closely resembling both the design and coloration of the vest on the present figure.

Lot 699. Collector/Connoisseur: The Max N. Berry Collections. A magnificent and sancai-glazed pottery figure of a caparisoned horse, Tang dynasty (618-907); 61 cm wide. Price realised USD 469,900 (Estimate USD 400,000 – USD 800,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

Provenance :The Chinese Porcelain Company, New York, 15 May 2000.

Literature : The Chinese Porcelain Company, Abstraction and Reality: Chinese Art from the Warring States to the Liao, New York, 1999, pp. 34-7, no. 8.
The Chinese Porcelain Company, A Dealer's Record 1985-2000, New York, 2000, pp. 82-3.

Exhibited: New York, The Chinese Porcelain Company, Abstraction and Reality: Chinese Art from the Warring States to the Liao, 6-28 October 1999.

Note : A masterpiece of potting and glazing, this large and impressive horse displays the technical virtuosity that was possible but only rarely attained by Tang-dynasty artisans. Every decoration that was attempted, from the striped mane to the intricately incised and glazed saddle, and the crisply defined ornaments, was flawlessly executed and achieved.

The most magnificent breed of horse, immortalized in Chinese literature and the visual arts, was the Ferghana horse, introduced into central China from the West during the Han dynasty (206 BC-AD 220). These were the fabled 'celestial' or 'blood-sweating' horses, known for their speed, power, and stamina. The renowned court artist Han Gan (AD 720-60) changed the nature of Chinese horse painting when he depicted one of Emperor Xuanzong's (r. AD 847-59) favorite horses, Night-Shining White (now in the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art), in a realistic rather than supernatural manner. This development parallels the realism of Tang arts in general, and is exemplified by this magnificent horse.

Only a small number of glazed horses, generally of a very high quality, possess bi-colored manes, because of the difficulty of controlling the lead glazes. See, for example, the large cream-glazed horse with bi-color mane from the collection of Mr. and Mrs. F. Brodie Lodge sold at Christie’s New York, 21 March 2002, lot 103. However, even fewer examples display tri-colored manes, such as that seen on the present figure. A slightly smaller horse (56.6 cm. high) with less-precisely controlled tri-color mane, with related fittings to the present horse but with ‘fur’ saddle cloth, is illustrated in City of Edinburgh Museums and Galleries, Gateway to the Silk Road. Relics from the Han to the Tang Dynasties from Xi’an, China, Edinburgh, 1986, pp. 58-59, no. 89.

The unusual pattern on the saddlecloth is another indication that this horse was created by a master craftsman for a client of the highest status. Large horses of this quality, with similar fittings, often display saddles with saddle cloths imitating fur. (See, for example, the large brown-glazed example sold at Sotheby’s New York, 17 September 2013, lot 45, one of a pair) The expertly executed arabesque designs on the present saddle cloth are extremely rare and were likely inspired by contemporary textiles. The control of the three colors within the incised designs further exhibits the skill of the artisan in preventing the glazes to run, and appears to be unique. A cream-glazed horse of similar size (60 cm. high) illustrated in the Eskenazi exhibition catalogue, Ancient Chinese Bronze Vessels, Gilt Bronzes and Early Ceramics, London, 1973, pp. 90-91, no. 56, exhibits a tri-color glazed saddle cloth with chevron pattern, but without any incised boundaries or intentional imitation of a textile pattern.

The complex, jewel-like decorations applied to the harness of this horse are mirrored in other Chinese decorative arts of the period, especially fine gold and silver ornaments and motifs, and show the influence of Sassanian art on that of 8^th-century China. The ornaments reflect the trappings used on actual horses by the Tang aristocracy. While the front chest straps were utilitarian and generally more simply ornamented, the non-functional straps set behind the saddle and around the rump would be set with gilt-metal plaques, sometimes inset with jade or other luxurious hardstones, and reflected the status of the rider. For various examples of Tang-dynasty horse harness trappings in gold and with precious insets see R. Jacobsen, Celestial Horses and Long Sleeve Dancers, The David W. Dewey Collection of Ancient Chinese Tomb Sculpture, Minneapolis, 2013, p. 231. On the present horse, the crisply molded, tri-color ornaments on the bridle and those carefully fitted on the rear harness imitate the shimmering golden trappings used on the finest horses of the Tang elite. A large (76.8 cm. high) sancai horse with elaborate trappings, although not as intricate or precise as those on the present example, was sold at Christie’s New York, 13 September 2019, lot 840.

The result of Oxford Authentication Ltd. thermoluminescence test no. C199y96 is consistent with the dating of this lot.

Lot 700. Collector/Connoisseur: The Max N. Berry Collections. A pair of exceptional blue and sancai-glazed pottery figures of horses, Tang dynasty (618-907); The taller 46.7 cm high. Price realised USD 190,500 (Estimate USD 150,000 – USD 250,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

Provenance :Berwald Oriental Art, New York, 5 April 2006.

Literature : Berwald Oriental Art, Blue Glaze of the Tang, New York, 2006, pp. 20-5, no. 5.

Exhibited: New York, Berwald Oriental Art, Blue Glaze of the Tang, 28 March-15 April 2006.

Note : The sancai or ‘three-color’ glaze was developed during the seventh century when Tang-dynasty potters were experimenting with the lively tones of green, amber and yellow. The cobalt-blue glaze, as seen on the present pair of finely modeled caparisoned horses, was an expensive import from the Middle East at the time and was reserved for objects of the highest quality. The blue has been selectively utilized to highlight the saddles as well as the tassels and ornaments that decorate the straps that frame the face, the chest, and the rump. On one of the horses, the blue has been paired with cream to create a striking alternating pattern on the mane and the dressed tail. Other unusual features include the crosshatching of the saddle on the horse with the blue and cream mane, which was likely done to simulate a textile or fur covering, as well as the crisply molded palmettes that embellish the horse with the green saddle.

A comparable pair of glazed pottery horses, but of slightly smaller scale (15 in. high), in the David W. Dewey Collection features one amber-glazed horse with an amber-glazed textured saddle and blue-glazed details on the fittings and a cropped mane, and one cream-glazed horse with the saddle, cloth and fittings featuring blue-glazed details. See R. Jacobsen, Celestial Horses and Long Sleeve Dancers, The David W. Dewey Collection of Ancient Tomb Sculpture, Minneapolis, 2013, pp. 230-31.

The results of Oxford Authentication Ltd. thermoluminescence test nos. C106c28 and C106c29 are consistent with the dating of this lot.

Lot 701. Collector/Connoisseur: The Max N. Berry Collections. A painted, blue and sancai-glazed pottery figure of a groom, Tang dynasty (618-907); 36.2 cm high. Price realised USD 12,700 (Estimate USD 15,000 – USD 25,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

Provenance: Eskenazi Ltd., London, 17 December 2004, no. c3593.

Note: The result of Oxford Authentication Ltd. thermoluminescence test no. C198t52 is consistent with the dating of this lot.

Lot 702. Collector/Connoisseur: The Max N. Berry Collections. A rare painted, blue and sancai-glazed pottery figure of a groom, Tang dynasty (618-907); 35 cm high. Price realised USD 31,750 (Estimate USD 15,000 – USD 25,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

Provenance: Eskenazi Ltd., London, 17 December 2004.

Note: The Tang dynasty marked a time when China engaged widely with countries throughout East, Southeast, and South Asia, facilitated by the development of the Silk Routes. Pottery figures of grooms, such as the present example, offer a fascinating view of the foreigners that were present in Chang’an in Tang times. It was fashionable in the seventh and eighth centuries to employ foreign grooms, and many pottery figures of camels are accompanied by foreign grooms.

The present figure of a groom, with wide beard that frames the face, depicts the figure in the action of pulling on the reins of a horse or camel. The jacket is decorated in sancai glazes but also includes the use of a cobalt blue glaze on the sleeves and the long jacket that extends down the back. Most extraordinary is the depiction of the trousers made from leopard skin, painted in pigments on the unglazed pottery, giving us a glimpse of the exotic attire worn by foreign visitors at the time. Another rare painted figure of a foreign groom with ‘leopard-skin’ trousers is in the Qingcheng Museum and illustrated by A. Betrand and Huei-chung Tsao in “Tang China: A Cosmopolitan Dynasty,” Orientations, Hong Kong, Vol. 56, no. 1, January/February 2025, p. 18, no. 10.

The result of Oxford Authentication Ltd. thermoluminescence test no. C102w58 is consistent with the dating of this lot.

Lot 703. Collector/Connoisseur: The Max N. Berry Collections. An amber-glazed pottery goose-form rhyton, Tang dynasty (618-907); 12 cm long, lucite and metal stand. Price realised USD 107,950 (Estimate USD 5,000 – USD 7,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

Provenance: J. J. Lally & Co., New York, 15 October 2001, no. 3430.

Note: Compare the related Tang pottery goose-form rhyton, but covered completely in a green glaze, sold in A Collecting Journey: The Jane and Leopold Swergold Collection; Sotheby’s New York, 19 March 2025, lot 187.

Lot 704. Collector/Connoisseur: The Max N. Berry Collections. A small amber-glazed pottery lion-form pillow, Tang dynasty (618-907); 24.8 cm wide. Price realised USD 10,795 (Estimate USD 4,000 – USD 6,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

Provenance: A & J Speelman Ltd., London, 24 March 2004.

Note: The result of Oxford Authentication Ltd. thermoluminescence test no. C104z10 is consistent with the dating of this lot.

Lot 705. Collector/Connoisseur: The Max N. Berry Collections. A carved limestone head of a boddhisatva, Tang dynasty (618-907); 14 cm high, metal stand. Price realised USD 17,780 (Estimate USD 12,000 – USD 18,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

Provenance: J. J. Lally & Co., New York, 9 February 2007.

Note: Compare the Tang marble stone head of a bodhisattva of similar small size (12.8 cm.) and carved with a gently rounded face with similar delicate features, from the collection Stephen Junkunc, III, sold at Christie’s New York, 24 September 2021, lot 715.

Lot 706. Collector/Connoisseur: The Max N. Berry Collections. A rare pale green-glazed marbled and stamp-decorated crescent-shaped pillow, Tang dynasty (618-907); 24.8 cm wide. Price realised USD 33,020 (Estimate USD 10,000 – USD 15,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

The base is incised with an inscription reading Pei jia hua zhen (flower pillow of the Pei family).

Provenance: A & J Speelman Ltd., London, 25 March 2002.

Note: The present pillow demonstrates a sophisticated combination of decorative techniques. It was made using the jiaotai (marbled-clay) method first developed in the Tang dynasty, in which white and brown clays were twisted and kneaded together before shaping, producing naturalistic patterns reminiscent of wood grain and cloud scrolls. The sides are further embellished with tool-impressed motifs—dots, rings, and radiating strokes—arranged to form stylized chrysanthemum blossoms.

The base is incised with a maker’s mark reading Peijia huazhen (裴家花枕), which may be translated as 'flower pillow made by the Pei family.' Peijia appears to have been the name of a specialized workshop active at the Gongxian kilns (modern Gongyi, Henan). Together with related marks such as Dujia huazhen (杜家花枕) found from the same kiln complex, the maker’s mark provides important evidence for commercialized, workshop-based production of ceramics in the late Tang period. Although the kilns also manufactured other types of pillow—such as sancai and green-glazed examples—only a handful of marbled “flower pillows” survived, owing to the technical complexity of their manufacture. A closely related Tang pillow incised on the base with mark Peijia huazhen excavated in the Xinglong village, Nanzhao County, is currently in the Henan Musuem (https://www.chnmus.net/ch/collection/appraise/details.html?id=512159004041074124). Also, see, a related marbled pillow in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, illustrated by M. Medley in The Chinese Potter, A Practical History of Chinese Ceramics, New York, 1976, fig. 60 (where it does not cite if the pillow has a maker's mark on the base).

Lot 707. Collector/Connoisseur: The Max N. Berry Collections. A painted Cizhou 'fish' pillow, Northern Song-Jin dynasty (960-1234); 31.4 cm wide. Price realised USD 21,590 (Estimate USD 15.000 – USD 25,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

The base is impressed with a character reading Zhang.

Provenance:;J. J. Lally & Co., New York, 21 September 2007, no. 4297.

Exhibited:: Greenwich, Connecticut, Bruce Museum, Flower and Fauna: Themes and Symbols in the Decorative Arts of China, 23 June-9 September 2007.

Lot 708. Collector/Connoisseur: The Max N. Berry Collections. A painted Cizhou tiger-form pillow, Jin dynasty (1115-1234);; 35 cm long. Price realised USD 15,240 (Estimate USD 15.000 – USD 25,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

Provenance: J. J. Lally & Co., New York, 9 December 1997.

Note :; A similar Cizhou-type tiger-form pillow, decorated on top with a panel of a swan swimming, is illustrated by Jiena Huo in Fire and Earth: Early Chinese Ceramics (3500 B.C. - 1400 A.D.) in the Museum of East Asian Art, Cologne, 2008, p. 187, no. 147, where it is dated Jin dynasty, 12th century, and suggests that it is probably from Changzhi, in Shanxi, where other pillows of this type have been found. Another similar pillow, decorated on top with a bird perched in bamboo, in the Avery Brundage Collection, Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, is illustrated by M. Tregear in Song Ceramics, New York, 1982, p. 82, no. 79, where it is dated late Northern Song-Jin dynasty, late 12th century.

Animal-form pillows were believed to protect against evil and to have helped women give birth to sons.

Lot 709. Collector/Connoisseur: The Max N. Berry Collections. An extremly rate large painted Jizhou pillow, Song dynasty (960-1279);; 46 cm long. Price realised USD 69.850 (Estimate USD 15.000 – USD 25,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

The lengthy poetic inscription inscribed on the pillow describes a mournful farewell and lingering loneliness, set against cold river scene with a brief, candlelit attempt at cheer that cannot dispel the writer's sense of age and sorrow.

Lot 711. Collector/Connoisseur: The Max N. Berry Collections. A painted Cizhou tiger-form pillow, Jin dynasty (1115-1234); 41.2 cm long. Price realised USD 21,590 (Estimate USD 15,000 – USD 25,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

Provenance: The Hayashibara Museum of Art, Okayama, Japan.

Inouye Oriental Art, Tokyo, March 2012.

Christie's New York, 16 March 2015, lot 3237.

J. J. Lally & Co., New York.

Literature: Inouye Oriental Art, 100 Ceramic Pillows: Formerly the Hayashibara Museum Collection, 2012, Tokyo, no. 32.

Exhibited: Tokyo, Inouye Oriental Art, 100 Ceramic Pillows: Formerly the Hayashibara Museum Collection, March 2012.

Lot 712. Collector/Connoisseur: The Max N. Berry Collections. Four glazed and painted pottery figures of equestrians, Ming dynasty (1368-1644). Each: approx. 43.2 cm. Price realised USD 16,510 (Estimate USD 8,000 – USD 12,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

Provenance: Berwald Oriental Art, London, 24 March 1999.

Note: Two similar painted pottery figures of a male and a female equestrian with removable heads are illustrated by R. Jacobesen in Celestial Horses and Long Sleeve Dancers, The David W. Dewey Collection of Ancient Chinese Tomb Sculpture, Minneapolis, 2013, p. 278.

Lot 713. Collector/Connoisseur: The Max N. Berry Collections. A rare small molded Longquan celadon 'Xiniu' dish, Yuan dynasty, mid-14th century; 14.6 cm diam., metal stand, cloth box. Price realised USD 30,480 (Estimate USD 30,000 – USD 50,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

Provenance: Christie's New York, 18 September 2003, lot 287.

J. J. Lally & Co., New York, 9 February 2007.

Literature: J. J. Lally & Co., Chinese Ceramics A.D. 400–1400: Selections from an American Collection, New York, 2007, no. 24.

Exhibited: New York, J. J. Lally & Co., Chinese Ceramics A.D. 400–1400: Selections from an American Collection, 19-31 March 2007.

Note : The motif of a mythical xiniu reclined in a grove gazing up towards a crescent moon, also referred to as xiniu wangyue, can be traced back to the Northern Song Dynasty, although it is most commonly associated with the Jin and Yuan periods. Given the motif’s origination and popularity in the North, its presence on a Southern Longquan ware is unusual. According to legend, the xiniu’s affinity for the moon results in the unique shape of its horn which, when cut, contains white marks shaped like crescents and stars.

A nearly identical dish from the Avery Brundage Collection, now in the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, was illustrated in He Li’s Chinese Ceramics: A New Comprehensive Survey, New York, 1996, p. 246, no. 509, and another is featured in Y. Mino and K. Tsiang, Ice and Green Clouds: Traditions of Chinese Celadon, Indianapolis, 1986, pp. 210-11, fig. 86. See also the comparable piece sold at Sotheby’s London, 6 November 2013, lot 252.

Lot 714. Collector/Connoisseur: The Max N. Berry Collections. An underglaze blue and copper-red-glazed 'sanduo' vase, 18th century; 18.4 cm high. Price realised USD 6,350 (Estimate USD 6,000 – USD 8,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

Provenance: Ralph M. Chait Galleries, New York, 26 March 2004.

Lot 715. Collector/Connoisseur: The Max N. Berry Collections. A Langyao pear-shaped vase, Kangxi period (1662-1722); 26.8 cm high. Price realised USD 46,990 (Estimate USD 10,000 – USD 15,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

Provenance:; J. J. Lally & Co., New York, 23 January 2006, no. 4169.

Lot 716. Collector/Connoisseur: The Max N. Berry Collections. A clair-de-lune-glazed pear-shaped vase, Kangxi six-charater mark in underglaze blue and of the period (1662-1722); 19 cm high. Price realised USD 27,940 (Estimate USD 15,000 – USD 25,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

Provenance- J. J. Lally & Co., New York, 30 November 1995.

Lot 717. Collector/Connoisseur: The Max N. Berry Collections. A rare small clair-de-lune-glazed faceted hu-form vase, Qianlong seal mark in underglaze blue and of the period (1736-1795); 11.5 cm high.Price realised USD 20,320 (Estimate USD 15,000 – USD 25,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

Provenance: Private collection, New York.

Imperial Oriental Art, New York, 25 February 2008

Lot 718. Collector/Connoisseur: The Max N. Berry Collections. A flambé-glazed vase, Qianlong incised seal mark and of the period (1736-1795); 21.6 cm high. Price realised USD 57,150 (Estimate USD 30,000 – USD 50,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

Provenance: Robert Peter Antiques Ltd., London, 12 June 1998.

Lot 721. Collector/Connoisseur: The Max N. Berry Collections. A carved celadon-glazed 'bamboo' brush pot, 18th century; 13.7 cm high.Price realised USD 27,940 (Estimate USD 15,000 – USD 25,000)  © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

Provenance: Imperial Oriental Art, New York, 4 December 2002.

Note : A very similar carved celadon brush pot was sold at Sotheby Parke Bernet, Hong Kong, 20 May 1980, lot 83, where it was dated to the Kangxi period. Another similar brush pot was sold at Christie’s New York, 11 May 1978, lot 209.g

Lot 723. Collector/Connoisseur: The Max N. Berry Collections. An archaistic flambé-glazed hu-form vase, 18th century; 37.4 cm high. Price realised USD 11,430 (Estimate USD 6,000 – USD 8,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

Provenance: Imperial Oriental Art, New York, 5 February 2000.

Lot 724. Collector/Connoisseur: The Max N. Berry Collections. A flambé-glazed hexalobed vase, Daoguang incised seal mark and of the period (1821-1850); 19.4 cm high. Price realised USD 33,020 (Estimate USD 15,000 – USD 25,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

Provenance: A & J Speelman Ltd., London, 20 June 1998

Lot 726. Collector/Connoisseur: The Max N. Berry Collections. A flambé-glazed hu-form vase, Daoguang impressed six-charater mark and of the period (1821-1850); 29.8 cm high, hardwood stand. Price realised USD 48,260 (Estimate USD 30,000 – USD 50,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

ProvenanceS. Marchant & Son, London.

Collection of Professor E. T. Hall (1924-2001), C.B.E., collection no. 534.

S. Marchant & Son, London, 31 March 2005.

Literature:; S Marchant & Son, Recent Acquisitions, London, 2005, p. 97, no. 57.

Exhibited:; New York, S. Marchant & Son, The International Asian Art Fair, 1-6 April 2005.

London, S. Marchant & Son, The Grosvenor House Art & Antiques Fair, 16-22 June 2005.

Christie's. Important Chinese Art, New York, 27 March 2026