A Chinese pottery green-glazed vase, hu, Han dynasty, the pear-shaped body decorated with moulded taotie masks bearing ring handles, with bands of grooved lines running around the exterior, covered in an allover glossy green glaze, 47cm high漢 綠釉弦紋盤口陶壺c.f. Similar vases dated to the Han dynasty can be found in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, acc. nos. 29.100.168 and 29.100.170. Another example can be found in the British Museum collection, acc. no. 1970,0726.169, and in the Fitzwilliam Museum collection, object number: C.3-1974.A similar example was excavated from a Western Han tomb in Luoyang in 1953, and is housed in the collection of the Henan Provincial Museum, An, Jingkui, Zhongquo Taoci Quanji: The Complete Works of Chinese Ceramics, vol.3: Qin Han, Shanghai ren ming chu ban she, Shanghai, 2000, no. 91, p. 108. 品相報告 Condition Report: The rim with spur marks, with one bearing a graze to the side of it. There is a deep glazer scratch, possibly a surface hairline, running up from the edge of the foot. Some glaze flaws present. Surface wear commensurate with age present throughout. A large graze to the base near the edge.