A SANCAI-GLAZED BOTTLE VASE
Tang Dynasty
The ovoid body rising from a spreading foot to a waisted neck with a cup-shaped mouth, splashed with green, ochre and straw-coloured glazes falling in streaks and stopping irregularly around the lower body.
18cm (7in) high.
Footnotes:
唐 三彩盆口瓶

Provenance: Victor Rienaecker (1887-1957), collection no.288 (label)
Brodie (1880-1967) and Enid Lodge, no.M.93 (label)
Sotheby's London, 10 December 1968, lot 84, acquired through William Clayton Ltd., London, 11 December 1968 (invoice)
John E. Bodie OBE (1930-2023), London, collection no.25

Published and Exhibited: The Oriental Ceramic Society, Exhibition of the Wares of the T'ang Dynasty, London, 1949, no.124 (label)

來源：Victor Rienaecker (1887-1957)，收藏編號288（據標籤）
Brodie (1880-1967)和Enid Lodge，編號M.93（據標籤）
倫敦蘇富比，1968年12月10日，拍品編號84，通過倫敦William Clayton Ltd.購得，1968年12月11日（據收據）
大英帝國官佐勳章獲勳人John E. Bodie(1930-2023)，倫敦，藏品編號25

展覽著錄： 東方陶瓷學會，《Exhibition of the Wares of the T'ang Dynasty》，倫敦，1949年，編號124（據標籤）

Victor Rienaecker of Oxford, collected Chinese pottery, stoneware and porcelain dating from the Tang to Qing dynasties. Most of his collection was sold on 14 April 1937, with additional sales taking place on 1 July 1943 and 9 March 1945. He was a client of Bluett & Sons Ltd. 1934-1955, as well as John Sparks Ltd.

Brodie and Enid Lodge of Flore House, Northamptonshire, were members of the OCS and close friends of George Eumorfopoulos, Sir Percival David and Sir Alan Barlow. They lent 17 pieces to the OCS 1949 Song Exhibition, 11 to its Enamelled Polychrome Porcelain of the Manchu Dynasty, 1950, and 2 to the 1957 Arts of the Ming Dynasty, as well as 3 pieces to the 1971 Ceramic Art of China Exhibition. They acquired pieces from Bluett & Sons Ltd., Sydney Moss Ltd., and John Sparks Ltd. For more information on the collectors above, see R.David and D.Jellinek, Provenance, Oxon, 2011, pp.298 and 373.

The present vase would have been commissioned for the burial of an elite member of Tang society to serve as a liquid container, perhaps wine, for the benefit of its owner. Ancestors in China were deemed active participants in the life of their living offspring, which they could positively influence if provided with continuous care. Miniature universes were thus presented in burials and filled with a variety of necessities in the form of animals, attendants as well as food and drink vessels.

Compare with a related sancai glazed bottle vase, Tang dynasty, illustrated by W.Watson, Tang and Liao Ceramics, London, 1984, p.167, no.158.

Some very minor old shallow chips to the foot, the largest approx 1cm wide; minor firing imperfections including some minor burst glaze bubbles and general surface wear including some old abrasions to the glaze.