Ewer with lion-shaped handle

Winepot: ovoid shape, spout, handle, copper band on irregular mouth rim; flat unglazed base with bevelled edge.
Clay: white porcelain.
Glaze: transparent, dirty white, bluish in thick areas.
Decoration: handle in form of lion in the round, monster head in relief on spout.

Historical period(s)
Tang dynasty, late 8th-9th century
Medium
Porcelain with transparent ivory-toned glaze; copper repair
Style
Ding ware
Dimensions
H x W: 15.1 x 12.1 cm (5 15/16 x 4 3/4 in)
Geography
China, Hebei province, Quyang county, Ding kilns
Credit Line
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art
Accession Number
F1917.404
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Ceramic, Vessel
Type

Ewer

Keywords
China, Ding type ware, lion, porcelain, Tang dynasty (618 - 907)
Provenance

To 1917
You Xiaoxi, Shanghai, to 1917 [1]

From 1917 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from You Xiaoxi, Shanghai in 1917 [2]

From 1920
Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]

Notes:

[1] See Original Pottery List, L. 2577, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.

[2] See note 1.

[3] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.

Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)

Charles Lang Freer 1854-1919
You Xiaoxi (C.L. Freer source) late 19th-early 20th century

Description

Winepot: ovoid shape, spout, handle, copper band on irregular mouth rim; flat unglazed base with bevelled edge.
Clay: white porcelain.
Glaze: transparent, dirty white, bluish in thick areas.
Decoration: handle in form of lion in the round, monster head in relief on spout.

Published References
  • Thomas Dexel. Fruhe Keramik in China: Die Entwicklung der Hauptformen vom Neolithikum bis in die T'ang-Zeit. Braunschweig, Germany. pl. 77d.
  • Oriental Ceramics: The World's Great Collections. 12 vols., Tokyo. vol. 10, pl. 13.
  • Dr. John Alexander Pope, Thomas Lawton, Harold P. Stern. The Freer Gallery of Art. 2 vols., Washington and Tokyo, 1971-1972. cat. 87, vol. 1: p. 174.
  • Koyama Fujio. Chugoku no toji [Chinese Ceramics]. Idemitsu Bijutsukan (Series), 3 Tokyo. p. 32, fig. 30.
  • The Editors of Time-Life Books. China. Library of Nations Amsterdam. p. 82.
Collection Area(s)
Chinese Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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