Lot 15. Property Formerly in the Sze Yuan Tang Collection. A rare green-glazed vase, Sui-Tang dynasty (581-907). Height 23 cm. Lot Sold 38,400 GBP (Estimate 5,000 - 7,000 GBP) © Sotheby's 2026

Provenance: Sze Yuan Tang Collection.

Exhibited: The Splendour of Sancai. The Sze Yuan Tang Collection, Littleton and Hennessy, TEFAF, Maastricht, 2012, cat. no. 5.

Note: The dating of this lot is consistent with the result of a thermoluminescence test, Oxford Authentication Ltd., no. C112a57.

Lot 2. A large painted pottery figure of a horse, Tang dynasty (618-907). Height 69.9 cm. Lot Sold 8,960 GBP (Estimate 15,000 - 30,000 GBP) © Sotheby's 2026

Provenance: Sotheby's New York, 31st March - 1st April 2005, lot 265.

Note: The dating of this lot is consistent with the result of a thermoluminescence test, Oxford Authentication Ltd., no. C126e80.

Lot 3. Property Formerly in the Sze Yuan Tang Collection. A pair of painted pottery rabbits, Tang dynasty (618-907). Length of the longer 12 cm. Lot Sold 3,072 GBP (Estimate 2,000 - 3,000 GBP) © Sotheby's 2026

Provenance: Sze Yuan Tang Collection.

Note: Compare a related pair of Tang dynasty rabbits in marble sold in our New York rooms, 28th November 1988, lot 69.

Lot 4. Property Formerly in the Sze Yuan Tang Collection. A sancai-glazed figure of a court lady, Tang dynasty (618-907). Height 41 cm. Lot Sold 6,144 GBP (Estimate 8,000 - 15,000 GBP) © Sotheby's 2026

Provenance: Sze Yuan Tang Collection.

Exhibited: The Splendour of Sancai. The Sze Yuan Tang Collection, Littleton and Hennessy, TEFAF, Maastricht, 2012, cat. no. 34.

Note: Ceramic sculptures of beautiful slender women, fashionably dressed with long high-waisted skirts, and a scarf covering theirs hands, were made to be housed in special niches in the tombs of the Tang nobility and high officials. While made in large numbers, extant examples of standing ladies vary greatly in quality, the present example being among the finest and largest of its type. The detailed rendering of the figure’s pleated skirt, the well-articulated triple-cloud slippers and the controlled application of green and amber glazes are comparable to some of the finest figures of Tang court ladies.

These earthenware figures offer a glimpse into Tang fashion and society. The cosmopolitan and international character of the dynasty had a significant impact on women, who were able to enjoy an unprecedented level of freedom and independence. Foreign fashion was favoured by noble women, as evidenced by these figures: the high waist of their skirts, long and tight sleeves, and low V-neck décolleté blouses, were inspired by Persian fashion.

A figure of similar size and coiffure was found in Guanlin, Luoyang, and is illustrated in Luoyang Tang sancai/Tang Dynasty Tri-Colour Pottery of Luoyang, Beijing, 1980, pl. 2; and another is published in Ezekiel Schloss, Ming-Ch’i. Clay Figures Reflecting Life in Ancient China, New York, 1975, pl. 98, together with a related figure with a different hair style, pl. 97. 

Lot 5. Property Formerly in the Sze Yuan Tang Collection. A green-glazed censer, Late Tang dynasty (618-907). Height 13 cm. Lot Sold 10,880 GBP (Estimate 8,000 - 15,000 GBP) © Sotheby's 2026

Provenance: Sze Yuan Tang Collection.

Exhibited: The Splendour of Sancai. The Sze Yuan Tang Collection, Littleton and Hennessy, TEFAF, Maastricht, 2012, cat. no. 44.

Note: Compare another green-glazed censer of this design in Hsien-Ch'i Tseng and Robert Paul Dart, The Charles B. Hoyt Collection, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1964, pl. 95; and another in the Kuboso Memorial Museum of Art, Izumi, illustrated on the Museum's website.

The dating of this lot is consistent with the result of a thermoluminescence test, Oxford Authentication Ltd., no. C205e75.

Lot 6. Property Formerly in the Sze Yuan Tang Collection. A rare green-splashed 'dragon' ewer, Tang dynasty (618-907). Height 18.5 cm. Lot Sold 2,560 GBP (Estimate 3,000 - 5,000 GBP) © Sotheby's 2026

Provenance: Sze Yuan Tang Collection.

Exhibited: The Splendour of Sancai. The Sze Yuan Tang Collection, Littleton and Hennessy, TEFAF, Maastricht, 2012, cat. no. 42.

Note: While white-glazed ewers of this elaborate sculptural form are attested, it is extremely rare to find an example enrobed in green copper-oxide splashes. Compare a closely related green-splashed ewer uncovered from the famous Belitung Shipwreck (ca. 830 CE), illustrated in Shipwrecked. Tang Treasure, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C., 2011, p. 46.

The dating of this lot is consistent with the result of a thermoluminescence test, C-Link Research & Development Ltd., no. 9432XA27.

Lot 7. Property Formerly in the Sze Yuan Tang Collection. A sancai-glazed 'mandarin ducks' pillow, Tang dynasty (618-907). Width 11 cm. Lot Sold 5,376 GBP (Estimate 5,000 - 7,000 GBP) © Sotheby's 2026

Provenance: Sze Yuan Tang Collection.

Exhibited: The Splendour of Sancai. The Sze Yuan Tang Collection, Littleton and Hennessy, TEFAF, Maastricht, 2012, cat. no. 8.

Note: The dating of this lot is consistent with the result of a thermoluminescence test, Oxford Authentication Ltd., no. C112a45.

Lot 8. Property Formerly in the Sze Yuan Tang Collection. A rare green-glazed moulded and incised box and cover, Tang dynasty (618-907). Diameter 9.2 cm. Lot Sold 2,560 GBP (Estimate 5,000 - 7,000 GBP) © Sotheby's 2026

Provenance: Sze Yuan Tang Collection.

Exhibited: The Splendour of Sancai. The Sze Yuan Tang Collection, Littleton and Hennessy, TEFAF, Maastricht, 2012, cat. no. 26.

Note: The dating of this lot is consistent with the result of a thermoluminescence test, Oxford Authentication Ltd., no. C112a54.

Lot 9. Property Formerly in the Sze Yuan Tang Collection. A rare miniature green-glazed 'foreign boy' wine vessel, Tang dynasty (618-907). Height 7.5 cm. Lot Sold 3,072 GBP (Estimate 3,000 - 5,000 GBP) © Sotheby's 2026

Provenance: Sze Yuan Tang Collection.

Exhibited: The Splendour of Sancai. The Sze Yuan Tang Collection, Littleton and Hennessy, TEFAF, Maastricht, 2012, cat. no. 6.

Note: This playful miniature vessel belongs to a well-known group of earthenware funerary figures of wine merchants. More commonly known of much larger size, they depict foreign male or female figures holding either a wineskin bag or a ceramic vessel in the form of a goose or a lion with a stopper. Fragrant grape wine, as opposed to rice wine, was an expensive commodity imported from Western Asia and popular among the upper echelons of Tang society. While wine became more accessible in the 8th century, after a new variety of grapes began to be grown in Turfan, Gansu province, and in northern Shanxi province, imported wine continued to be sought after.

Such miniature figures of wine merchants were most likely made at the Gongyi kilns in Gongxian, Henan province, the main manufacturing centre of sancai ware in the Tang period. Moulds of miniature wine merchants were unearthed at the kiln site, and illustrated in Huangye Tang sancai yao / Three-Colour Glazed Pottery Kilns of the Tang Dynasty at Huangye, Beijing, 2000, pl. 12, nos 5, 6 and 7. A figure of this type was excavated from the tomb of Lümiao, Luoyang, Henan province, and is now in the Luoyang Provincial Museum, illustrated in Luoyang Tang sancai / Tang Dynasty Tri-Colour Pottery of Luoyang, Beijing, 1980, pl. 91.

A figure holding a fish-shaped vessel, from the E.T. Chow collection was sold in these rooms, 16th December 1980, lot 219; another was sold at Christie’s London, 11th December 1989, lot 37. See also the much larger figure of a wine merchant from the collection of Neil F. Phillips, sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 18th May 1872, lot 54, at Christie’s New York, 25th March 1998, lot 131A, and most recently offered in our New York rooms, 18th September 2007, lot 210.

Lot 12. Property Formerly in the Sze Yuan Tang Collection. A rare amber-glazed figure of an equestrian drummer, Tang dynasty (618-907). Height 38 cm, wood stand (2). Lot Sold 8,320 GBP (Estimate 8,000 - 15,000 GBP) © Sotheby's 2026

Provenance: Sze Yuan Tang Collection.

Exhibited: The Splendour of Sancai. The Sze Yuan Tang Collection, Littleton and Hennessy, TEFAF, Maastricht, 2012, cat. no. 31.

Lot 13. Property Formerly in the Sze Yuan Tang Collection. A rare blue and sancai-glazed tripod dish, Tang dynasty (618-907). Diameter 29 cm. Lot Sold 70,400 GBP (Estimate 20,000 - 30,000 GBP) © Sotheby's 2026

Provenance: Sze Yuan Tang Collection.

Exhibited: The Splendour of Sancai. The Sze Yuan Tang Collection, Littleton and Hennessy, TEFAF, Maastricht, 2012, cat. no. 13.

Note: Of all the ceramic wares made during the Tang dynasty, tripod dishes with such flamboyant floral designs in brilliant sancai enamels perhaps best illustrate the international spirit of the period. The intensification of trade via the Silk Route resulted in the emergence of new commercial cities throughout China, including the capital Chang’an, modern Xi’an, Shaanxi province, which became the largest city in the world. These bustling urban centres attracted an influx of foreigners who came from such disparate places as Central Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Rome, India and Japan. The goods they brought with them and their tastes strongly influenced the repertoire of Tang craftsmen. The moulded floral motif on this dish and the use of cobalt are examples of this interaction: the former was inspired by designs on Central Asian textiles, while the latter was an expensive pigment imported from Persia.

Tang potters took inspiration from a wide variety of sources, and often looked for inspiration at objects in more luxurious materials, such as silver. The characteristic form of this dish with three cabriole legs was inspired by contemporary silver offering trays, such as the lobed tray unearthed at the site of the Daming Palace, Xi’an, now in the National Museum of China, Beijing (accession no. 1101012180003610675715). These offering trays were held by the legs, as illustrated in a wall painting of a lady carrying such a tray tray, in the tomb of princess Fangling (d. 673) in Zhaoling, now preserved in the Shaanxi History Museum, Xi’an.

Dishes of similar design include one sold in our New York rooms, 4th December 1985, lot 176; another with a flat rim, sold in these rooms, 2nd March 1971, lot 123, and now in the Tokyo National Museum; and a third dish, with the blue stopping below the well, sold in these rooms, 9th December 1986, lot 56. See also a dish of this design, but on a green ground, in the Freer Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. (accession no. F1949.13); and a dish with a plain white ground, in the Tokyo National Museum, Tokyo (accession no. TG-677).

The dating of this lot is consistent with the result of a thermoluminescence test, Oxford Authentication Ltd., no. C111n24.

Sotheby's, Asian Art / 5000 Years, London, 7 - 15 May 2026