A large white-glazed jar and cover, Tang dynasty

Sotheby's New York, 30th March 2006, lot 9.

It is rare to find a surviving jar of such large size, let alone preserved with its cover. Compare a related slightly smaller (29 cm) jar and cover from the Idemitsu Museum of Art, in Chūgoku tōji / Chinese Ceramics in the Idemitsu Collection, Tokyo, 1987, pl. 23; another from the Meiyintang Collection, illustrated in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, London, 1994, pl. 228; another from the Malcolm Collection, included in the Oriental Ceramic Society exhibition, Tang Dynasty Wares, London, 1949, cat. no. 132, sold in our London rooms, 29th March 1977, lot 89; and a jar from the Barlow Walker Collection sold in these rooms, 26th September 1972, lot 672. 

Jars of this monumental bulbous form with regal pointed covers were among the most iconic products of the Tang dynasty and produced at kiln sites across the kingdom including at Gongxian in Henan and Xing in Hebei. Compare two closely related jars attributed to the Gongxian kilns uncovered from the Beilitung wreck (ca. 830 CE), included in Shipwrecked. Tang Treasures and Monsoon Winds, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Washington, 2011, cat. nos 276 and 277; and Xing examples carved with the character ying (‘surplus’), suggesting their production was commissioned directly by the Tang court.

Compare also a jar and cover included in the exhibition Early Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, Eskenazi, London, 1974, cat. no. 14; and another (30.5 cm) from the Falk Collection acquired from Matthias Komor, included in the China Institute in America exhibition Selections of Chinese Art from Private Collections in the Metropolitan Area, New York, New York, 1966, cat. no. 35, and sold at Christie's New York, 20th September 2001, lot 11.

The dating of this lot is consistent with the results of Oxford Authentication Ltd. thermoluminescence test no. P205b49.

本拍品經牛津熱釋光檢測編號P205b49，結果與其斷代相符。