A Rare Large Blue-Splashed 'Sancai' Pottery Basin, Tang Dynasty

A Rare Large Blue-Splashed 'Sancai' Pottery Basin, Tang Dynasty

carved in the center with a large floral medallion in blue, amber and cream glazes on an amber ground, accented in wax-resist arcs and stipples at the cavetto, the exterior glazed amber stopping before the flat base to show the pinkish buff ware. diameter 10 in., 25.4 cm? Estimate 15,000—20,000 USD

PROVENANCE: Acquired on the Hong Kong art market, early 1980s.
Offered at Sotheby's New York, 17th September 2003, lot 57.

NOTE: A pair of officials featuring one modeled with foreign facial features was included in the exhibition Gems of Chinese Art, Selections of Ceramics and Bronzes from the Tsui Art Foundation, The Empress Palace Museum, Singapore, 1992, cat. no. 27. Another larger pair of official figures, discovered at the entry corridor of General An Pu's tomb, at Longmen near Luoyang, is illustrated in Robert L. Thorp, Son of Heaven: Imperial Art of China, Seattle, 1988, pp. 199-205.

Sotheby's. Chinese Works of Art. 17 Mar 09.New York www.sothebys.com Photo courtesy Sotheby's