Add to Collection

Add this item to an existing or new collection.
Harvard Art Museums
Incorrect Username, Email, or Password
This object does not yet have a description.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
2006.170.272
Title
Censer with five legs
Other Titles
Original Language Title: 唐 三彩五足爐
Classification
Vessels
Work Type
vessel
Date
late 7th-early 8th century
Places
Creation Place: East Asia, China
Period
Tang dynasty, 618-907
Culture
Chinese
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/188084

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Earthenware with three-color (sancai) lead glaze
Technique
Lead glaze
Dimensions
H. 10.7 x Diam. 14.6 cm (4 3/16 x 5 3/4 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Stephen Junkunc III, Chicago, IL (by 1978). Private collection (by 1996), sold; through [Christie's, New York, 28 March 1996, lot 316]; to [Chinese Porcelain Company, New York (1996-1999)], sold; to Walter C. Sedgwick Foundation, Woodside, CA (1999-2006), partial gift; to Harvard University Art Museums, 2006.

Notes:
1. Stephen Junkunc III (d. 1978)
2. On long-term loan to Harvard University Art Museums from 1999 to 2006.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Partial gift of the Walter C. Sedgwick Foundation and partial purchase through the Alpheus Hyatt Purchasing Fund
Accession Year
2006
Object Number
2006.170.272
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
Permissions

The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request.

Descriptions

Description
Incense burner in the form of a basin with flat, everted lip supported on five palmette-form legs, each modeled at top with an animal head, all resting on a low ring-form base; white earthenware with variegated lead-fluxed copper-green and iron-brown glazes on the exterior of the basin and legs. Sancai ware. From northern China, Henan, Hebei, or Shaanxi province.
Commentary
Compare to:
Censer of similar form with similar animal-head decoration excavated in 1984 from a Tang kiln site in Gongyi, Henan province. For line drawing see Zhongyuan Wenwu [Central Plains Cultural Relics] 4 (1992): 60, fig. 9.8.

Publication History

  • Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, auct. cat., Christie's, New York (New York, March 28, 1996), lot 316
  • Abstraction and Reality: Chinese Art from the Warring States to the Liao (An Exhibition and Sale, 6-28 October 1999), auct. cat., The Chinese Porcelain Company (New York, 1999), no. 16, pp. 58-59
  • The Chinese Porcelain Company: A Dealer's Record, 1985-2000, auct. cat., The Chinese Porcelain Company (New York, 2000), p. 61

Subjects and Contexts

  • Sedgwick Collection

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu