J.J. Lally & Co., Oriental Art / New York City, New York
MenuPast Exhibition
Chinese Porcelain and Silver in the Song Dynasty
March 18 - April 8, 2002
19.
A CARVED WHITE PORCELAIN TRIPOD EWER
Song Dynasty (A.D. 960-1279)
the spherical vessel raised on three short splayed legs each moulded in the form of a tiger paw issuing from the mouth of a monster mask, the steeply rounded sides carved with a wide frieze of stylized lotus scroll bearing large blooms and curling leaves on a continuous undulating stem boldly drawn in outline and with freely incised linear detailing, enclosed between narrow double line borders encircling the shoulders and the base, the slender handle of high, arched form lightly incised with short slashes on either side of a single line along the median, the handle ending in a short, hooked tail on one end and applied with a tiny ornament in the form of a crested bird's head on the other end, above the short spout moulded in the form of a tiger head with mouth open wide, the domed top of the vessel with a short cylindrical neck rising in the center, incised with a double ring border under the lipless rim, covered inside and out with a glossy transparent glaze showing very pale crackle throughout, the bottom of the feet left unglazed exposing the dry white porcelain body.
Height 9 inches (23 cm)
The form of this vessel suggests a metal prototype, but no other example in metal or porcelain appears to have been previously published.
