Ewer with Short, Flaring Neck, Short Spout, and Handle in the Form of a Leaping Lion
9th century
Description
This ewer has an ovoid body that rests on a solid, slightly flaring foot. The steep walls rise rapidly to the shoulder, where they curve inward and then angle upward to complete the container portion. A bowed neck stands atop the shoulder, its lip turned delicately outward. A short spout in the form of an open-mouthed creature juts upward from the top of the shoulder; opposing the spout is a handle in the form of a slender, leaping lion with hind paws resting on the vessel shoulder and forepaws reaching over and grasping onto the vessel lip. The lion's head and shoulders rise above the top of the vessel and his jaws clamp down onto the edge of the lip, as if it were biting its prey. A thin, even coat of ivory-hued glaze covers the ewer's interior and exterior, stopping no more than a centimeter above the foot, so that the flat base and very lowest portion of the vessel remain unglazed. The exposed body clay is pure white.
Dimensions
H. 20.7 x W. 13.4 x Diam. 11.7 cm (8 1/8 x 5 1/4 x 4 5/8 in.)
Provenance
H. Medill Sarkisian(1909-1993) purchased object in China between 1946 and 1949 Collection of H. Medill Sarkisian, Denver, CO (1946/49-1965) Private Collection, San Francisco, CA (1965-2001), purchased from H. Medill Sarkisian in 1965 J.J. Lally & Co., New York, NY (2001), purchased from the private collector William B. Goldstein, M.D., Wilton, CT (2001-2009), purchased from J.J. Lally & Co. Partial Gift/Partial Purchase, Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Harvard Art Museum (2009)
Related Artworks
View MoreLight gray stoneware with medium brown glaze
8th-9th centuryChineseYue ware: light gray stoneware with celadon glaze. From the Yue kilns at Shanglinhu, Zhejiang province.
9th-10th centuryChineseSilvered bronze
8th-9th centuryChineseWhite ware: porcelaneous white stoneware with ivory-white glaze (the glaze possibly over white slip)
8th-9th centuryChineseTurned bronze
7th-9th centuryChineseHuangpu black-glazed ware: light gray stoneware with dark brown glaze decoratively applied over a thick coat of white slip that covers the interior and that portion of the exterior under the lip. From the Huangpu kiln, Tongchuan, Yaozhou county, Shaanxi province.
9th-10th centuryChineseWhite stoneware with ivory hued glaze
8th-9th centuryChineseWhite stoneware with clear glaze
8th-9th centuryChineseHuangdao ware: light gray stoneware with dark brown glaze with variegated light blue suffusions
8th-9th centuryChineseTang/Five Dynasties white ware, possibly Xing ware: porcelain with clear glaze, the barbed rim knife-cut. Possibly from the Xing kilns, Hebei province.
9th-10th centuryChinese'Jiaotai' ware: laminated brown and white stoneware clays under a clear glaze, the rim with underglaze white slip
8th-9th centuryChineseLushan ware: light gray stoneware with dark brown glaze embellished with variegated light blue splashes. Probably from the Duandian kiln, Lushan county, Henan province.
8th-9th centuryChinese