A RARE GREEN-GLAZED CONJOINED AMPHORA, SUI DYNASTY | 隋 綠釉雙龍柄聯腹傳瓶

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The unusual form of this vessel appears to have been inspired by the silver and glass amphoras made in the Roman Empire and brought to China through the Silk Route. Sui craftsmen thoroughly transformed the original shape by creating a double vase with one neck, and by modelling the sweeping handles in the form of dragons biting the rim. While single vases of this form were popular throughout the Sui and Tang dynasties, this particular variation may have fallen out of fashion after the Sui period.

While pieces of this type are generally considered to have been made for burial purposes, it is extremely interesting that a very similar green-glazed double amphora was discovered at the Sui and Tang palace site in Luoyang; see Zhongguo gu ciyao daxi. Zhongguo Gongyi yao/Series of China’s Ancient Porcelain Kiln Sites. Gongyi Kiln of China, Beijing, 2011, p. 423 bottom.

A white-glazed double amphora was discovered in the famous tomb of Li Jingxun in Xi’an, which is dated in accordance with AD 608, and is now in the National Museum of China, Beijing, accession no. 1101012180003610675778; another is in the Tianjin Municipal Museum. See also a slightly smaller vessel of this form covered in a brown glaze, in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, accession no. 54.1126.