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Details
- Other Title
- Amphora
- Place where the work was made
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China
- Period
- Tang dynasty 618 - 907 → China
- Media category
- Ceramic
- Materials used
- stoneware partly covered with transparent lead glaze
- Dimensions
- 30.7 x 14.0 cm
- Signature & date
Not signed. Not dated.
- Credit
- Purchased 1988
- Location
- Not on display
- Accession number
- 396.1988
- Copyright
- Share
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About
Two thin-necked dragons bite symmetrically into the rim of this round-bodied ewer, creating its handles. The ewer probably dates from the Tang dynasty, archaeological findings from the tombs of which often reveal pairs of ewers. Some scholars speculate that the ewers were among the 'mingqi' (funeral goods) popular in the early 7th to mid 8th centuries in today's Shaanxi and Henan provinces. The shape of such ewers may derive from Greek amphora, with Chinese potters modifying the design by adding dragon heads for the handles. In the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), Chinese intellectuals often placed similar amphora in their studies, sometimes using them as ink containers. By the Qing dynasty (1644-1911) the famous kilns of Jingdezhen were making reproductions of such vessels glazed in blue and white and polychrome enamels.
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Places
Where the work was made
China
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Exhibition history
Shown in 3 exhibitions
Dragon (2012), Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 18 Jan 2012–06 May 2012
Conversations through the Asian collections, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 25 Oct 2014–13 Mar 2016
Open Studio (brick vase clay cup jug), Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 01 Jul 2023–07 Jan 2024
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Bibliography
Referenced in 2 publications
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Jackie Menzies (Editor), The Asian Collections Art Gallery of New South Wales, 'Early Ceramics', Sydney, 2003, 103 (colour illus.).
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Jackie Menzies, Asian Collection Handbook, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 'Early Chinese Art', pg. 18-29, Sydney, 1990, 26 (colour illus.).
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Provenance
Graham E. Fraser, Apr 1984-Oct 1988, United States of America, on loan to the Art Gallery from April 1984 to Oct 1988. Purchased by the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Oct 1988.