A brown-glazed flask, Liao dynasty

Sotheby's New York, 21st September 2006, lot 288.

Liao pottery flasks of this type were modeled after leather or wooden flasks, which were tied to a horse by horizontal lugs attached to the body. The present flask is rare in that it faithfully adheres to the original design, with lugs positioned near the top of the body and a single lug at the bottom. While examples are more commonly found covered in green, amber, and white glazes, brown-glazed examples are comparatively rare. See a closely related white-glazed example, included in Zhongguo taoci quanji [The Complete Works of Chinese Ceramics], vol. 9, Shanghai, 2000, pl. 21; and a green-glazed flask, but decorated without lugs, in the collection of the Tokyo Museum of Art, Tokyo, published in Sekai toji zenshu [Ceramic Art of the World], vol. 13, Tokyo, 1981, fig. 1. A white-glazed flask, of a slightly smaller size (26 cm) and decorated without lugs was sold in these rooms, 22nd September 2021, lot 187.