Lot 121. A rare molded green-glazed pottery jar, late Tang-Liao dynasty. Height 4 5/8  in., 11.8 cm. Estimate 15,000 — 25,000 USD. Lot Sold 75,000 USD. Courtesy Sotheby's.

superbly modeled, the ovoid form rising from a short splayed foot to a flat shoulder incised with a band of s-curves, surmounted by a narrow lipped rim, a row of molded petal-form lappets applied below the shoulder, each centering a floral spray, the body applied with twelve teardrop-shaped medallions of geometric foliate design outlined by rosettes in the form of concentric circles, divided into two registers; with the lower register suspended from a line of rosettes, covered overall in a bright leaf-green glaze, the unglazed recessed base revealing the pinkish body.

Provenance: Warren E. Cox, New York.
Collection of Stephen Junkunc III (d.1978). 

Exhibited: Chinese Ceramics, from the prehistoric period through Ch'ien Lung, Los Angeles County Museum, Los Angeles, 1952, cat. no. 65.
The Arts of the T'ang Dynasty, Los Angeles County Museum, Los Angeles, 1957, cat. no. 175.

Literature: Warren E. Cox, The Book of Pottery and Porcelain, vol. I, New York, 1944, pl. 259.

Note: Finely modeled, the present jar suggests an ode to the past conveyed in the visual language of Tang pottery. Each centering a floral spray, the lappets echo the green-glazed 'lotus' vessels of the Southern and Northern Dynasties, while embodying the fanciful floral and foliate motifs of the Tang. The vibrant green glaze highlights the jewel-like rosettes and medallions derived from metalwork, which was superbly adapted to ceramic wares from the Northern Qi period onward. 

For a related example, see a ewer with identical medallions and rosettes formerly in the collection of Charles B. Hoyt, and now in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, acc. no. 50.1779. Compare also a stemcup with similar molded lappets in the collection of the Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, included alongside the present lot in the exhibition Chinese Ceramics, from the prehistoric period through Ch'ien Lung, Los Angeles County Museum, Los Angeles, 1952, cat. no. 64..

Sotheby's. Junkunc: Arts of Ancient China, New York, 9 March 2019