A bronze vase, Song dynasty or later

Sydney Moss Ltd., London (according to label).

Acquired in London in the late 1970s.

Vases of this exuberant form trace their origins to that of Buddhist ritual ewers and were widely produced in the Tang and Song dynasties for domestic and international markets. Compare a Tang dynasty vase of related form preserved in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (accession no. 1985.214.15); others included in Chugoku no kyodo [Tin-bronze of China], Kuboso Memorial Museum of Art, Izumi, 1999, cat. nos 56-59; and a Northern Song dynasty (960-1127) Ru-glazed interpretation of the form, preserved from the Sir Percival David Collection in the British Museum, London (accession no. PDF.61).

Hausmann writes that this vase could be late Tang/early Song and draws attention to the unusual wide-spreading foot rim and the exceptional grace and beauty of the vessel’s shape, which he describes as “very organic, fluid and soft - almost potted”.