AN AMBER-GLAZED MARBLED POTTERY JAR, TANG DYNASTY China, 618-908. Finely potted, the body formed of two sections meeting at the shoulder, the flaring sides rising from a flat foot to a rounded shoulder with a short waisted neck and everted lip. Made from rolled and flattened layers of dark and light clay, covered with a transparent amber glaze stopping unevenly above the foot, revealing the buff-brown ware.

Provenance: From a private collection in New York, USA.
Condition: Very good condition with some old wear and firing flaws, the base with light surface scratches and traces of use, the shoulder with a small nick and a minor glaze flake.

Weight: 255.1 g
Dimensions: Height 9 cm

Marbling, known as jiao tai in Chinese, became a popular decorative technique on ceramics of the Tang dynasty, and was applied to a number of different forms, including jars, cups, bowls, dishes and censers. Sections of marbling were also inlaid into larger items, such as pillows, for special decorative effect. The popularity of marbled wares with the Tang aristocracy was confirmed by the discovery of a small number of horses made with marbled clay among the items in the tomb of the Tang Princess Yongtai, who was given a grand reinterment in AD 706.

The marbled appearance could be achieved either by combining clays of different colors when making the vessel, or by using two contrasting slips on the surface of the vessel. In either case the piece was afterwards covered with a transparent glaze. The most popular glazes were amber, as seen on the present jar, green, or colorless. It can clearly be seen that the present jar was made by mixing contrasting clays, and it can further be seen that the upper and lower sections were made separately and then luted together. This would have required considerable skill on the part of the potter, and on the present jar it was done quite successfully.

Literature comparison: Compare a related and similarly glazed jar, also without a cover, found at Xianyang, Shaanxi province in 1952. The tomb from which the Xianyang jar was excavated has been dated to AD 714. The jar, now in the Shaanxi Provincial Museum, is illustrated in Zhongguo wenwu jinghua daoquan - Taoci juan, Taipei, 1993, p. 247, no. 246. Another larger marbled jar with amber glaze, also without a cover, is illustrated by R. Krahl in Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, vol. I, London, 1994, no. 230.

Auction result comparison: Compare a closely related amber-glazed marbled pottery jar with cover, dated to the Tang dynasty, at Christie’s New York in The Falk Collection 1: Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art on 16 October 2001, lot 19, sold for USD 58,750.

唐代琥珀色釉絞胎瓷罐
中國，618-908年。罐小口，豐肩，鼓腹，平足。罐身以褐、白兩色泥料揉絞出花紋。罐身至足部施琥珀色釉。

來源：美國紐約私人收藏。
品相：狀況極好，有舊時磨損和燒製瑕疵，底座有輕微的劃痕和使用痕跡，肩部有一個小刻痕和輕微的釉面剝落。

重量：255.1 克
尺寸：高9 厘米

拍賣結果：比較一件相近的唐代琥珀色釉絞胎瓷蓋罐，見紐約佳士得The Falk Collection 1: Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art 2001年10月16日 lot 19, 售價USD 58,750。