Lot 6. A Celadon-glazed amphora, Tang Dynasty (618-907), 18 1/2 in., 47 cm. Estimate 25,000 — 35,000 USD. Lot sold 24,000 USD. © Sotheby's.

the ovoid body rising to a tall waisted neck collared by nine carved rings and a cupped mouth with an everted rim, the broad shoulders set with a pair of S-curved handles anchored by a small ball and with molded dragon heads on the other end peering into the the mouth of the vessel, the upper portion dipped in a pale-yellow celadon glaze.

Provenance: The collection was formed in China between the 1920s - 50s.

Note: A larger glazed amphora of this shape, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in Zhongguo taoci quanji, vol. 5, Shanghai, 2000, pl. 147; and another, in the Nezu Institute of Fine Arts, Tokyo, is included in Sekai tôji zensh?vol. 11, Tokyo, 1976, pl. 113. Compare also an amphora of similar size and design sold in these rooms, 15th June 1983, lot 152; and another, of the same size but of more rounded body and shorter neck, sold in our London rooms, 29th March 1977, lot 224.