A lead-glazed earthenware garlic-mouth vase, Han dynasty (206 B.C.-A.D. 220)
A Chinese earthenware ritual vessel of garlic-head form, featuring a globular body and a long, tapering neck terminating in a bulbous, lobed mouth. The piece is hand-formed with a coarse buff-colored ceramic body visible through losses in the surface. The exterior is covered in a dark olive-to-brown lead glaze that shows characteristic silvery iridescence and devitrification from long-term burial. The body is decorated with three raised, stylized scrolling S-shaped motifs in relief. The interior view through the mouth reveals a small circular aperture at the base of the neck leading into the main chamber. The surface exhibits significant calcified encrustations and burial deposits. There are no maker's marks, signatures, or inscriptions visible on the piece.
Body diameter: 5 inches.
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A Chinese earthenware ritual vessel of garlic-head form, featuring a globular body and a long, tapering neck terminating in a bulbous, lobed mouth. The piece is hand-formed with a coarse buff-colored ceramic body visible through losses in the surface. The exterior is covered in a dark olive-to-brown lead glaze that shows characteristic silvery iridescence and devitrification from long-term burial. The body is decorated with three raised, stylized scrolling S-shaped motifs in relief. The interior view through the mouth reveals a small circular aperture at the base of the neck leading into the main chamber. The surface exhibits significant calcified encrustations and burial deposits. There are no maker's marks, signatures, or inscriptions visible on the piece.
Body diameter: 5 inches.
Estimate
Reserve
Time, Location
Auction House
