20. R1198
£28,000
Description
Chinese green and amber glazed pottery oil lamp, youdeng, in the form of a carp holding a six-petalled receptacle above its head, the body with detailed moulded scales and incised lines to the tail and dorsal fin.
5 ½ inches, 14 cm long.
Tang dynasty, 7th – 8th century.
Provenance & Additional Information
- From the personal collection of Susan Chen, collection C 138.
- From the Sze Yuan Tang Collection.
- Included by Littleton & Hennessy and published in their exhibition catalogue, The Splendour of Sancai, The Sze Yuan Tang Collection, The European Fine Art Fair, Maastricht Exhibition and Congress Centre, The Netherlands, March 2012, 32, where it mentions and illustrates another example of this model excavated at the Huangye kiln site in Gongxian.
- Sold by Sotheby’s London in their auction of Important Chinese Art, 4th November 2020, lot 226.
- Very few fish-form oil lamps are known. One is in the Art Institute of Chicago, bequest of Russell Tyson, collection no. 1964.1073; and another was published by Courage & Joy, New York, in their exhibition of Serene Glazes, Elegant Forms, a Select Exhibition of Early Chinese Ceramics, March 2012, no. 20, and was sold by Poly Auction Hong Kong in Tang Sancai Ceramics from the Ten-views Lingbi Rock Retreat Collection, 14th July 2022, lot 3241.
Condition
One small chip to the inner rim of the scone and two nibbles to the outer rim of the scone restored, one minute chip to the tail restored, tiny glaze flakes to the body retouched, glaze flakes and losses around the eyes and several minute nicks to the edges.
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