A blue-splashed sancai-glazed tripod dish, Tang dynasty

Acquired in Hong Kong, 1990s.

The present dish combines decorative elements derived from contemporaneous textiles and metalwork. Margaret Medley notes that motifs like wax-resist dots, as seen on the rim and cavetto, developed out of Central Asian textile techniques such as tie-and-dye silks and fabrics with wax-stenciled resist designs, while the impressed flowerhead at the center was inspired by chased silver (see Medley, T'ang Pottery and Porcelain, London, 1981, pp 40-41). The use of supplementary motifs, contrasting glaze colors, and multiple techniques allowed the potter a wide range of decorative possibilities. 

A very similar dish is published in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, London, vol. 3, pt. I, 2006, pl. 1271. Another, with a plain green rim, was included in the exhibition Spirit and Ritual: The Morse Collection of Ancient Chinese Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1982, cat. no. 54.

Another slightly smaller Tang tripod dish with similar decoration from the collection of Sir Joseph Hotung was sold in these rooms, 8th December 2022, lot 218.