Lot 3208. A rare Qingbai 'Phoenix-head' ewer,  Northern Song dynasty (960-1179, 14.8 cm, 5 3/4  in. Estimate 120,000 — 180,000 HKD. Unsold. Photo: Sotheby's.

the gently tapered body rising to a broad rounded shoulder and surmounted by a tall slender neck rising to a flaring lobed rim, the lower section of the neck bordered with two concave grooves, the upper section modelled with a phoenix head detailed with a curved beak and shapely slender eyes below the stylised rim, the body of the ewer flanked by a short curved spout and a strap handle issuing from the neck to the shoulder, covered overall with a clear blue-tinged glaze falling short of the countersunk base revealing the white body

Provenance: Galaxie Company, Hong Kong, prior to 1990.

Note: It is rare to find a qingbai ewer of this complex form, potted with a ferocious phoenix head. The phoenix head is reminiscent of the famous qingbai phoenix-head ewer, created without a handle, in the British Museum, illustrated in R.L. Hobson, The George Eumorfopoulos Collection, vol. 1, London, 1926, pl. LXXIII. Compare also a qingbai bottle vase with phoenix head from the Manno Art Museum, sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 28th October 2002, lot 519.

Sotheby's. Song Ceramics from a Distinguished Private Collector, Hong Kong, 05 Apr 2017