Lot 3125. A carved and inlaid ‘Makara’ pillow, Northern Song dynasty (960-1127);10 7/8 in. (27.7 cm.) wide. Estimate HKD 150,000 - HKD 250,000 (USD 19,433 - USD 32,388). Price realised HKD 187,500. © Christie's Images Ltd 2016.

The pillow is carved through a layer of white slip and inlaid with brown slip to depict a five-clawed Makara, its eyes picked out in black, amidst cloud wisps and two pearls against a fish-roe ground on the top, the sides with a broad peony band, all under a clear glaze; the base is unglazed revealing the light brown body. There is a ventilation hole on one side, box.

Exhibited: National Museum of History, The Exhibition of Chinese Ceramics of Eight Dynasties, Taipei, 1987 , p. 34
Chugoku meito ten: Chugoku toji 2000-nen no seika (Exhibition of Chinese Pottery: Two Thousand Years of Chinese Ceramics), Tokyo, 1992, no. 31

Christie's. Chinese Ceramics From The Yangdetang Collection, 30 November 2016, Hong Kong, HKCEC Grand Hall