Ancient Chinese Terracotta Pair of funerary vases with sancai green glazing WITH TL TEST - 30×20×20 cm - (2)

Pair of funerary vases with sancai green glazing. TL Test. Ming Dynasty, 1368-1644. Dimensions: 30 x 20 cm each. The body of sancai ceramics was made of white clay, coated with coloured glaze, and fired at a temperature of 800 degrees Celsius. Sancai is a type of lead-glazed earthenware: lead oxide was the principal flux in the glaze, often mixed with quartz in the proportion of 3: 1. The polychrome effect was obtained by using as colouring agents copper (which turns green) , iron (which turns brownish yellow) , and less often manganese and cobalt (which turns blue) . At kiln sites located at Tongchuan, Neiqui county in Hebei and Gongxian in Henan, the clays used for burial wares were similar to those used by Tang potters. The burial wares were fired at a lower temperature than contemporaneous white-wares. Large figures made for grave goods in burials ("burial wares) , such as the well-known Tang dynasty tomb figures with people, camels and horses, were cast in sections, in moulds with the parts luted together using clay slip. In some cases, a degree of individuality was imparted to the assembled figurines by hand-carving. The most common type of sancai pieces was vessels in a number of shapes, but none very large, all found almost exclusively in burials, and perhaps only ever made for them. The shapes are mostly characterised by "contrasting contours and almost extravagant roundness, expanding to the point almost of bursting". Many adapt non-Chinese shapes, mostly from metalwork, although some can be traced back to ancient Greek pottery. It is possible, as has also been suggested for much ancient Greek pottery, that the ceramic vessels were cheaper copies for burial of the vessels in metal, probably silver, that the deceased used or aspired to in life, just as the tomb figures replicated servants and animals. Provenance: Purchased by the current owner in 2017 from a private Spanish collection previous 1980. The Supplier warrants that he obtained this lot legally. Provenance statement seen by Catawiki. Important information: The seller guarantees that he is entitled to ship this lot. The seller will take care that any necessary permits will be arranged. The seller will inform the buyer about this if this takes more than a few days. Important: For destinations out of Spanish territory: all our objects will be shipped after obtaining CERTIFICATE OF EXPORTATION by Ministry of Culture of Spain. We inform our clients that it may take between 4-8 weeks.