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China, 206 B.C. – 220 A.D.

The grey-green clay dog standing four-square with ears erect and curled tail, wearing a harness,

some original red-brown slip remaining, with flecks of white slip

Each year on March 3, at an ancient temple in the Tongbai Mountains in Southeast China, local residents hold a grand ceremony honoring Pangu – the mythological dog-headed figure, whom legends say emerged from a giant cosmic egg, creating heaven and earth. As the legends were passed down orally, many versions exist. Perhaps the most lyrical holds that when Pangu died, his breath became the wind and clouds, his voice the rolling thunder, one eye the sun, the other the moon. One legend describes his tears flowing to make rivers and the radiance of his eyes turning into thunder and lightning; when he was happy the sun shone, when angry black clouds gathered in the sky. This dog-headed kindly being was thought the father of the human race, and thence the emperors.

8.5" High x 11.5" Long

For a short excerpt from the rich award winning film

"Of Dogs & Gods - A Social History of the Dog in China"

by Chris Carroll, Gulliver Media Australia Pty Ltd, click below:

"Of Dogs & Gods"

SONG HENAN GLAZED YUHUCHUNPING VASE

China, 13^TH Century

Of bottle or pear Yuhuchunping form with slender elongated neck and everted rim, the black

Henan-glazed surface with stylized brown foliate decoration between three loosely defined lines,

raised on a high unglazed footrim; buff colored clay

Ref: Chinese Ceramics, He Li, Pl. 309, p. 166

12.5" High

SOLD

PAIR OF SOUTHERN SONG YINGQING BOWLS

China, 960–1127 A.D.

Each bowl of wide shallow form with a pale blue-green Yingqing glaze, the interiors centering incised

and combed stylized vining blossoms, each raised on an unglazed foot

Celadon is held to be the aristocrat of Chinese porcelains, production beginning in the 7th century, and reaching its pinnacle in the 13th and 14th centuries. The glaze itself contains a small amount of iron oxide. The ceramic is fired at a high temperature, being careful to allow very little air into the kiln. The amount of air determines the color - little air producing the most desirable of the hues - the pale blue known as qingbai (yingqing).

7 3/8" Diameter

SOLD

YUAN / JIN DYNASTY OLIVE-GLAZED GLOBULAR JAR

Ammonite Impressed Decoration

China, 1115-1368 A.D.

Of globular form with a transparent olive glaze and short rounded mouth rim, the shoulders with

a single incised line above a body with impressed intricate spiral ammonite motifs.

Ammonites were considered in early Chinese cultures to be symbols of good luck &

prosperity, enhancing the vitality, harmony, prosperity, and overall well-being of occupants

and visitors of a home.

11" High

SOLD

JIN DYNASTY GLAZED STONEWARE JAR

North China, 1115–1234 A.D.

The Henan-type glazed stoneware jar with tapered globular body and trumpet-form rim, the shoulders

with spur appendages; the rich black “hare’s fur” type glaze with coffee-colored streaking and mottling

and incised patterns descending to attractive tear-drop dripping toward the base

7 1/4" High

SOLD

Kangxi Blue & White Miniature Ceramics

Below, we are pleased to offer a selection of Chinese export Kangxi miniature vases.

The exact purpose of these small vases is debated. Some report them as being used for medicine. These small porcelains are also often described as “doll house vases”, for display in wall cabinets. They can also be referred to as “toy” porcelains. Whatever the original concept, they hold a unique charm among early Chinese ceramics.

Collecting miniatures was a favorite among aristocracy. Among the influences were the miniature Mogul painting that flowed into Eastern Europe in the 1500’s. This affection moved quickly to The Netherlands and thence into England during the reign of Mary II (1689 -1694). It is said that Her rooms at Kensington Palace were decorated with many small vases on displayed on gilded brackets and on little ledges, and on any and every available surface. Daniel Defoe (1660-1731) stated that "The Queen (Mary) brought in the custom or humour, as I may call it, of furnishing houses with China-ware, which increased to a strange degree afterwards, piling their China upon the tops of cabinets, scrutores, and every chymney-piece, to the top of the ceilings, and every setting up of shelves for their China-ware, where they wanted such places, till it became a grievance in the experience of it, and even injurious to their families and estates".