A RARE SANCAI-GLAZED POTTERY RHYTON TANG DYNASTY

of horn shape, the curled dragon head terminal issuing a bifurcated foliate scroll joined to the side of the pointed oval mouth of the vessel, the rounded sides molded with petal-scroll motifs on a granulated ground, splashed overall with green, amber and straw-colored glazes, wood stand, Japanese wood box (4)

Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 29th November 1976, lot 404.
Collection of the British Rail Pension Fund.
Sotheby’s London, 12th December 1989, lot 62.
Spink & Son, London. 

Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1977-1985 (on loan).
Dallas Museum of Art, 1985-1988 (on loan).

The rhyton in overall good condition with only some wear to the body and glaze, including crazing and glaze flakes (particularly to the rim, duck head, and foliate handle). The handle has fine cracks from firing, which are filled with glaze. There are two small glaze adhesions to the base.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

This piece is striking for its elegant form and detailed decoration of palmettes on a stippled ground, and ranks amongst the best surviving examples of Tang period rhytons. A brown-glazed dragon-shaped rhyton of this form, but with somewhat less complex decoration on the body, from the Schiller Collection in the City Art Gallery, Bristol, was included in the exhibition The Arts of the T’ang Dynasty, Los Angeles County Museum, Los Angeles, 1957, cat. no. 184; and a green-glazed example lacking the foliate scroll and with a pearl in its mouth, illustrated in Sekai tōji zenshu/ Catalogue of World Ceramics, vol. 11, Tokyo, 1976, pl. 129, sold twice in our London rooms, 7th April 1981, lot 140, and again, 10th June 1986, lot 14. Compare also rhytons in the form of ducks, such as one in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Compendium of Collections in the Palace Museum. Ceramics, vol. 5, Sui (581-618), Tang (618-907) and Five Dynasties (907-960) (II), Beijing, 2013, pl. 295; another published in The Charles B. Hoyt Collection in the Museum of Fine Arts, vol. 1, Boston, 1964, pl. 94; a third, included in the Oriental Ceramic Society exhibition Arts of the T’ang Dynasty, London, 1955, cat. no. 146, and sold in our London rooms, 14th July 1970, lot 9; and a further example, sold in our London rooms, 21st June 1983, lot 95. 

The rhyton is a drinking vessel originally made from ox or buffalo horn, which was introduced into China through Central and Western Asia, where it was made in silver and precious stones.  Rhytons appeared in China from as early as the Han dynasty, and were made in a variety of materials, including pottery, glass and silver. While a number of surviving rhytons from the Tang period, such as the white-glazed example in the British Museum, London, illustrated in Margaret Medley, T’ang Pottery & Porcelain, London, 1981, pl. 4, were clearly modelled after Persian silver originals, the present example has incorporated Chinese elements, such as its dragon shape.