Marble glazed fired clay
China, Song dynasty/Yuan Dynasty
Dimensions (height x diameter) 3 1/2 x 3 7/8 in. (9 x 10 cm)
Good condition
Provenance: Sotheby's New York Concordia House Collection 19 March 2007, lot 125; Sotheby Parke-Bernet, 14 October 1959, lot 152; Ex-Personal Collection of Warren E. Cox, New York
Exhibited in Chinese Ceramics in Chicago Collections, Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, 1982, cat. no. 15, p. 32

"This tripod censer is modest in size, however its unusual marbled glaze is resplendent, in swirls and concentric patterns of deep brown and cream or straw hues. The interior of the mouth rim slopes to the glazed and hollowed interior, while the exterior of the mouth rim is slightly dished and everted. The rounded, squat body exhibits a subtle, horizontal seam at the halfway point that is barely noticeable at the touch but definitively separates the marbled patterns into higher and lower registers. Three squat legs formed from beast masks exhibit molded ears flanking a pronounced forehead, and with shaped muzzles forming the upturned feet. The underside bears a label for the Cox collection.

Notes: A similar marbled ware tripod censer, indentified as Yuan dynasty, is in the Freer Gallery, Washington D.C., permanent collection, accession number F1987.12. The Freer example measures (height x width) 4 7/16 x 4 7/16 in. (11.2 x 11.2 cm.), and although similar in size and proportion, has upright flange handles.

This object was identified in previous exhibition and sale catalogues as Tang dynasty and Tang dynasty/ Five dynasties period."

Condition

In overall good condition. Examination under UV light revealed only one, ½ inch long area of touched up glaze.

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