Page 54 - Sotheby's Imperial Chiense Porcelain Nov 4 2020 London

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TANG SANCAI - THE SZE YUAN TANG The dating of this lot is consistent with 唐 三彩寳相花紋三足盤
COLLECTION the result of a thermoluminescence
A RARE SANCAI-GLAZED test, Oxford authentication Ltd., no. 來源
LOTS 207–239 C112a50.
TRIPOD DISH 思源堂收藏
TANG DYNASTY £ 20,000-30,000
TANG: EXUBERANCE IN COLOUR the shallow circular dish with gently
rounded sides raised on three short
REGINA KRAHL cabriole legs, the flat centre incised with
a circular roundel enclosing a goose in
flight amidst wisps of cloud, surrounded
Tang – the name of this dynasty (618- high time of earthenware pottery, a high- brightened up the basic green and by alternating lotus leaves and tendrils,
907) evokes fashionable ladies alluringly ly versatile medium, which was never brown glaze tones, but also – covered picked out in amber and green glazes
made up and splendidly dressed; dash- exploited in more ingenious, varied and with a transparent glaze – added a near- and reserved against a creamy, straw-
ing polo players showing off their thor- attractive ways than in this period, when white glaze colour to the repertoire. That glazed ground
oughbred horses; dancers performing to the inventiveness of the potters aimed at the resulting colour scheme is known Diameter 28 cm, 11 in.
the latest tunes of male or female bands; exhausting the medium to its limits. as sancai (‘three colours’) obscures the
foreign merchants with rugged features Since the potters took inspiration fact that it covers a fairly wide range
arriving at the capital with laden camels wherever they could find it, mostly from of tones, from near-white over yellow
after a gruelling trek across the Central other cultures and other media, Tang ce- and amber to brown and from a pale
Asian desert; and a bustling metropolis ramics do not present a concise, clearly pastel-green to a deep leaf green. Sancai
with a skyline dominated by pagodas. definable picture, but are immensely proved such a successful colour scheme
This may be a cliché picture, but it is rich in visual stimuli. Very different – one that it became a staple for Chinese
what Tang poetry, prose and paintings is tempted to say contradictory – styles ceramics and remained popular long
on silk and tomb walls are presenting, at could flourish side by side: gold and after many additional glaze colours had
least from the first half of the dynasty. silver prototypes, for example, inspired become available. Still in the eighth
China’s elite was certainly affluent and ewers with tubular spouts, that were century, the palette was dramatically
society cosmopolitan; they eagerly separately formed and attached at a enriched by the introduction of a deep
embraced anything foreign, be it exotic sharp angle to the vessel surface and cobalt blue, a rare and valuable pigment
goods, outlandish styles or even a reli- thus dramatically interrupted its silhou- that itself was apparently imported from
gion – Buddhism. New impulses were ette. Blown glass on the other hand ex- Persia.
imported via the Silk Route, by Sogdian emplified the possibility of fluid shapes, The easily available clay and the rela-
and other foreign traders, whose cul- with spouts squeezed from the soft clay tively low firing temperatures required
tures had themselves assimilated styles as if naturally growing out of the vessel’s would basically have made production
from Bactria further south and from the contours. Flasks, amphoras, rhyta and of sancai possible wherever glazed roof
Sassanian empire further west. Artisans even stem cups are shapes potters ad- tiles were produced. Quite a number of
were flooded with a wealth of new visual opted from abroad and happily adapted kilns seem indeed to have been involved
impressions from a wide range of differ- in their own ways, so that today they in its production, but the creation of
ent cultures that had roots in Hellenistic, come across as Tang classics. complex shapes and designs and the
Persian and Indian cultural spheres. Decorative means and motifs equally craftsmanship required for successful
The court and the aristocracy enjoyed were sourced from outside the ceramic firings that yielded bright colours was
luxury and were not afraid to display it. medium and for this, the potters possible only at a highly specialized
The period is unparalleled in the baroque dramatically expanded their reper- workshop. The Gongyi kilns in Gongxian,
opulence of its works of art, which runs toire of techniques. The present group Henan province, now appear as the
through all media. It was a time when alone includes pieces decorated by foremost manufacturing centre of Tang
lavish silk brocades and ostentatious impressing, relief-moulding, rouletting, sancai, as they have yielded evidence for
items in gold, silver, tortoise shell, moth- stippling, appliqué, resist and marbling the widest range of shapes, decorative
er-of-pearl and glass were produced techniques. Effects were borrowed from techniques and motifs at reliably high
for an eager clientele. While only few of wax resist, brocade and embroidery on quality.
those works are extant, ceramics have textiles, repoussé, engraving and punch- The pleasurable lifestyle of the Tang
survived in greater number and they ing on metal work, interwoven structures aristocracy received a jolt through the
equally reflect this affluent stratum of perhaps from wickerwork, marbling rebellion of An Lushan in the mid-eighth
society, if in more indirect form. Even from the natural veining of stones. century. Although ultimately unsuccess-
items produced largely for burial were Roundels with pearl beading enclosing ful, it shook the dynasty to its core and
conceived to make an impression on the pairs of birds, and other formal rosettes had a lasting, sobering effect on Tang
living, since they were on display during are typical of Persian textiles which society. Pottery of course continued
the important ceremonies held before- themselves allude to jewel encrustations to be made, but quantities were much
hand. Far from having simply symbolic on metalwork. reduced and the stylistic exuberance
function, they became ever more Pottery also became richer in colour, displayed in ceramics until then, gave
sophisticated, luxurious and complex in mainly through the use of a white slip way to much more sedate production
design. The first half of the Tang was the over the dull beige clay, which not only lines.

104 Buyers are liable to pay both the hammer price (as estimated above) and the buyer’s premium together with any applicable taxes and Artist’s Resale Right 105
(which will depend on the individual circumstances). Refer to the Buying at Auction and VAT sections at the back of this catalogue for further information.