Page 146 - Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art II

VARIOUS PROPERTIES
2299
A SANCAI-GLAZED POTTERY FIGURE OF A MERCHANT HOLDING A GOOSE-FORM WINE
VESSEL
TANG DYNASTY (AD 618-907)

The kneeling fgure is holding a goose-form wine vessel in his arms. He wears a belted tunic
left open at the chest and tall boots, and is splash-and-resist-glazed in green, amber and cream.
The head, elaborate hat, and chest are left unglazed. The round face is modeled with soft
features. The fgure is raised on a pedestal molded with lotus petals.
12º in. (31.2 cm.) high

$40,000-60,000

PROVENANCE:

Eskenazi Ltd., London, 1987.

EXHIBITED:

London, Eskenazi Ltd., Tang, 9 June - 3 July 1987, no. 31.

LITERATURE:

Tang, Eskenazi Ltd., London, 9 June - 3 July 1987, no. 31.

The goose being held by the present fgure and other related fgures, has been identifed as both
a goose being force fed and as a wine vessel. Jan Chapman in her paper, ‘A New Look at ‘Wine
Carriers’ Among Tang Dynasty Figures’, T.O.C.S., vol. 52, 1987-88, pp. 11-20, illustrates two similar
fgures, p. 12, pls. 1 and 2, the frst in the Rietberg Museum, the second in The Burrell Collection,
Glasgow Museums and Art Gallery, and that they do not hold a real goose, or lion, but an
earthenware vessel of goose or lion shape, in which a rhinoceros horn has been inserted as a stopper,
which could also be used as a cup. Such fgures are usually identifed as foreigners, of Central or
Western Asian type.
A related female fgure holding a goose, from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, was sold at Christie’s
New York, 1 December 1994, lot 151A. Another similar female fgure seated on a stool, holding a
goose-form vessel, was sold at Christie’s New York, 18-19 September 2014, lot 704. See, also, a
fgure, similar to the present fgure, from Shanxi province, is illustrated in Wenwu, 1989:6, col. pl. and
black and white pl. 4.1.

唐 三彩陶商人俑

144 (reverse)