A blue and sancai-glazed inkstone, Tang / Liao dynasty

Acquired in Hong Kong, 1990s.

Sancai inkstones are rare, although a small number from the Liao dynasty is known. A sancai inkstone of circular form is illustrated in Qidan Dynasty: Treasures of the Liao Dynasty from Inner Mongolia, National Museum of Chinese History, Beijing, 2002, p. 305. A washer of the same form and mould but glazed in amber and part of a fitted stack of five is illustrated ibid., p. 279.

A Liao sancai inkstone from the collection of Gale R. Blosser (1913-2009), acquired at Kalk Bay Antiques, Cape Town, 1970s, was sold in our New York rooms, 19th and 20th March 2013, lot 100.