A LARGE AMPHORA WITH DRAGON HANDLES

Description:

China, Tang dynasty, 7th-8th c. A.D.
H. 42,5 cm
Large cream-coloured glazed amphora from the Tang dynasty, from a kiln in Hebei or Henan. Typical shape with two double-row handles with dragon head finial. The lower part of the amphora is unglazed.
From an old North German private collection, collected before 1980
See a closely related vessel, Tang dynasty, illustrated in Porcelain of the Jin and Tang Dynasties: The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 1996, pp.172-173, See another example in The Charles B. Hoyt Collection, Boston, 1964, p.33, no.129; another example is illustrated in M. Feddersen, Chinese Decorative Art: A Handbook for Collectors and Connoisseurs, Michigan, 1961, p.54, fig.25, in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London; another example is illustrated in Y. Mino, Pre-Sung Dynasty Chinese Stonewares in the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, 1974, p.32, no. 19; Zhongguo Wenwu Jinghua Da Quan (ceramic volume), no. 239, p. 245, now in the collection of the Shaanxi History Museum; and an example in R. L. Hobson, The Eumorfopoulos Collection, vol. 1, London, 1936, no. 325, plate XLVIII. See also a related large straw-glazed amphora, Tang dynasty, sold at Christie's New York on 14 September 2018, lot 1272 - Minor losses and wear to glaze, very slightly chipped