Catalog: Antiques: Regional Art: Asian (357)

Elegantly simple burnished high fired pottery cup from Warring States to Early Han Dynasty. There is one crack and a couple of chips noted in last enlargements. Pretty much to be expected from an over 2000 year old pottery piece. D:9.9cm/3.9in and H: 7cm/2.7in.

Simple Han inkstone, polished smooth one side and rough underneath. Signs of exavation and typical distinct petrichor smell. L: 20cm/7.9in x 6.3cm/2.5in. Note last image is from Chinese Inkstones- Simon Kwan, for reference.

Lovely pottery small lead glazed stove from the Eastern Han Dynasty (202 BCE – 220 CE). There is original flaw in one of the pots on top and a minor glaze chip on the upper edge but otherwise excellent condition with a lot of lead glazed silver paraffin patina on the whitish surface. See last enlargement for reference from He Li’s Chinese Ceramics. L: 25.cm/9.8in, W: 18.5m/7.2in and H: 9.5cm/3.8 in. Excellent example of how people cooked 2000 years ago in China.

Rubbing taken from a Han Dynasty tomb vault wall depicting an elegant royal mounted entourage being greeted by courtiers. Excellent detail, horizontally mounted as a scroll with textured silk border. The calligraphy translates “Outstanding old scene” signed Zhao Jianchang. L: 197cm/76in x H: 58cm/23in, with mounting-L: 243cm/95in and W: 68cm/27in.

Tang Dynasty, high fired, white clay, statue of a court advisor. H: 25cm/9.8in. Good condition. FREE SHIPPING!

Unusual pottery bowl with hand molded snake handle. I cannot find any pieces similar in style to this although the reddish clay and heavy potting are reminiscent of Hongshan pottery. This came out of China and has a good petrichor and water absorption on the base, very old- at least 2000 to 3000 years old but probably older. W: 14cm/5.5in and H: 12cm/4.7in.

Small wide mouth grey pottery jar with “soy” brown glaze from an unknown Southern Kiln. The glaze resembles Jizhou ware. Circa Song Dynasty or earlier, the body is quite thinly potted with delicate lugs near the mouth. There is fritting on the mouth and handle but no cracks or chips. H: 9cm/3.5in and D: 6cm/2.3in.

Rare image of a Qilin Chinese "unicorn" with stunning deep aquamarine Qingbai glaze. This is a fragment of a much larger piece, possibly a finial off a censer. H: 9.5cm/3.9in, W: 7cm/2.8in x 4.5cm/1.8in. The sculpture is in excellent condition, there is a film of hardpacked soil in the crevices which can be (see enlargements), this can be removed with a small blade with a bit of effort, soaking it in water for a week or so will help. I am leaving it on as it speaks to the age of this piece...

Very rare pair of pottery bears. The meaning of bears of during Han Dynasty is somewhat enigmatic, as they are “everywhere” in their material culture i.e., bronze, jade and pottery, but what they signify remains unexplained. Usually they are depicted in a friendly almost cute Winnie the Pooh (ish) fashion, lacking in ferocity like dragons and tigers. Only during the Han did they reach such ubiquity. Both have an amber colored vitreous glaze and appeared to be mostly hand carved...

Classic green glazed Han Dynasty grain storage silo. This item has been repaired (by me), please examine enlargements for condition. This has an excellent lead glazed silver patina and well executed little bears for legs. H: 27cm/10.6in and D: 20cm/7.9in (at the roof).

Pristine Jatim Millefiore bead circa 600-900CE, Pre Islamic Javanese Hindu era. Perfect condition. L: 19mm x W: 22mm. Perfect condition. Free shipping.

Northern Song vitreous glazed over white slip Cizhou jar. Nice ivory toned piece emulating Ding ware. There is a simple repair on one side of the body which is pointed out in photos and chip on mouth rim. Dimensions: 13cm/2.9in width and 9.5cm/3.7in height. This from a Northern Kiln most likely Henan, or Shanxi.

Beautiful image of Tang Dyansty noble woman or lady-in-waiting. Good condition no damage or repair. She is standing in relaxed natural pose, with a sweet face and complicated to coiled double chignon. H: 27cm/10.6in.

Special Offer: “Fixer Upper”- Han ceramic well with dragon head roof, and classic lead green glaze and silver patina. This is broken into three pieces and would need to be repaired (I would recommend two part epoxy) please note that in the cover image it is just being held together with gravity. I would prefer to sell “as is” but can offer a repair but cannot guarantee it will arrive in one piece. H: 40cm/15.8in.

Rare early “si zhi” (four straight lines) style inkstone carved from an old fired brick. The characters on the brick are in an archaic style, no longer in use today. The square shaped flat bottomed inkstone with sloping grinding surface did not become popular until the Song Dynasty, so it is possible this was made into a inkstone long after it was a brick. Chinese are very fond of creating ink stones out of “found objects” such as roof tiles etc...

Good dark soy brown glazed ovoid jar Tang Dynasty from a northern kiln, nice size- H: 12.5cm/5in and D: 16.5cm6.5in. Some kiln flaws i.e., bubble pops and minor chip on side- please examine enlargements.

Neolithic/Bronze Age reddish clay, pottery jar from an unknown culture. I acquired this in a group of Chinese Neolithic pottery pieces but I can’t find any references to this being Chinese. I tend to think this from Thailand or some other Southeast Asian culture. Low fired with very good near invisible restoration. If you know what this is, drop me a line and let me know. D: 12cm/4.7in and H: 8.5cm/3.6in.

Tang/Five Dynasties, stoneware jar with light olive green glaze and reddish clay body. The foot is rimless and concave. There is a “Jun” type glaze run on the body noted in enlargements- probably unintentional but interesting nonetheless. I have done simple repair on the mouth by filling a shallow chip and applying a layer of gold leaf. H: 12cm/4.8in and D: 9cm/3.5in.