Jar with cobalt-blue splashes
first half 8th century
Description
Ovoid jar with everted rim, short neck, broad shoulders, sides tapering inward toward a flat circular base, and decoration of blue streaks against a white ground; pinkish white earthenware with clear lead-fluxed glaze splashed with cobalt blue glaze on the exterior and the rim; yellowish glaze on the interior; glaze stops short of the foot, base unglazed. Cobalt-splashed sancai ware. From northern China, probably Henan province. Note: A sample taken from the base of this vessel was thermoluminescence (TL) tested at Oxford Authentication Ltd. in December 1997 and determined to be consistent with the suggested period of manufacture.
Dimensions
H. 18.1 x Diam. 21 cm (7 1/8 x 8 1/4 in.)
Provenance
[Berwald Oriental Art, London, August 1998] sold; to Walter C. Sedgwick Foundation, Woodside, CA (1998-2006), partial gift; to Harvard University Art Museums, 2006.
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