Page 112 - Important Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art, Hong Kong
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VARIOUS PROPERTIES

     3306

     A RARE SANCAI AND BLUE-GLAZED PHOENIX-

     HEAD EWER

     TANG DYNASTY (618-907)

     The pear-shaped body is moulded on one side with an equestrian
     archer turned backwards on his galloping horse as he takes aim
     with his bow, and on the reverse with a triumphant phoenix, both
     surrounded by ornate flowers issuing from the oval surround, the
     neck surmounted by a phoenix head grasping a pearl in the beak
     below the oval opening in the top of the head, the C-form handle
     with foliate terminals, the head glazed in blue and amber, the rest
     covered with a mix of amber, green and cream glaze.
     13 in. (33 cm.) high, box

     HK$2,000,000-3,000,000 US$260,000-390,000

     PROVENANCE                                                                                                               another view
                                                                                                                                   另一面
     The Baron Fujita Collection, Japan, acquired in 1884 (according
     to invoice)                                                                   唐  三彩藍斑鳳首壺
     The Ikeda Takeshi Collection, Japan, acquired in 1927 (according
     to invoice)                                                                   來源
     The Iyo Saijou Matsudaira Ka Collection, Japan, acquired in 1938              日本藤田男爵珍藏,入藏於 1884 年(根據收據)
     (according to invoice)                                                        日本池田孟珍藏,入藏於 1927 年(根據收據)
     Acquired in Tokyo in 1998                                                     日本伊豫西條松平家珍藏,入藏於 1938 年(根據收據)
                                                                                   1998 年購於京都
     This phoenix-headed ewer not only displays superb workmanship,
     but is also one of the rarest of its type owing to the application of         此壺造工精湛上乘,紋飾華麗堂皇,釉色斑駁燦爛,更為罕有的是在鳳
     the precious cobalt blue, which would have been an extremely prized           首施上當時從中亞地區進口、極為貴重的鈷藍料,不單反映大唐帝國海
     material imported from Central Asia during the Tang dynasty, reflecting       納百川的氣度與盛態,更顯示出其原來主人超凡顯貴的地位,可算是同
     the cosmopolitan nature of Tang society as well as the wealth and             類器中最出類拔萃的代表作。
     status of its original owner.
                                                                                   同類的三彩鳳首壺可見於世界各大重要博物館,但施鈷藍料的例子卻寥
     While a number of similar ewers can be found in important museums             寥無幾,其中一件藏瑞典遠東古物博物館,著錄於《Oriental Ceramics,
     and institutions worldwide, extremely few are glazed with cobalt blue         The World’s Great Collections》,卷 9,東京,1982 年,圖版 35 號。
     like the current example. One such ewer is in the collection of Museum        其他沒有鈷藍料的三彩鳳首壺包括一件藏大英博物館,著錄於 Jessica
     of Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockholm, illustrated in Oriental Ceramics:      Rawson,《The British Museum Book of Chinese Art》,倫敦,1992 年,
     The World’s Great Collections, vol. 9, Tokyo, 1982, col. pl. 35. Other        圖版 199 號;另一件壺身一面飾鳳紋,另一面飾崑崙奴騎獅,著錄於《世
     sancai phoenix-head ewers without cobalt blue include one in the              界陶磁全集》,前揭書,圖版 40-41 號;再一件藏国立東京博物館,著
     British Museum Collection, illustrated by Jessica Rawson, The British         錄於 Margaret Medley,《T’ang Pottery & Porcelain》,倫敦,1981 年,
     Museum Book of Chinese Art, London, 1992, fig. 199; another one,              圖版 19 號。
     which is similarly decorated on one side with a triumphant phoenix, but
     on the other side with a foreigner riding over a lion, illustrated in Seikai
     Toji Zenshu, op. cit., pls. 40-41; and one in the Tokyo National Museum
     Collection, illustrated by Margaret Medley, T’ang Pottery & Porcelain,
     London, 1981, pl. 19.

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