A white-glazed ewer (Kundika), Late Tang dynasty

Lee Hing Hong Kong Antiques Co., Hong Kong, 5th March 2007.

Ewers of this type, known as kundika after the Sanskrit term for ‘pure-water bottle’, were used in Buddhist ceremonies during the Tang dynasty and derive their form from metal prototypes; compare a bronze example illustrated in Ancient Chinese Arts in the Idemitsu Collection, Tokyo, 1989, pl. 328. A closely related white-glazed kundika of slightly larger size is preserved in the Palace Museum, Beijing, published in Compendium of Collections in the Palace Museum. Ceramics, vol. 4, Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties, Beijing, 2013, pl. 183, together with a smaller example, pl. 184. See also examples in the Niigata Art Museum, Niigata, published in Sekai toji zenshu / Ceramic Art of the World, vol. 11, Tokyo, 1976, pl. 110; and in the Yuegutang Collection, illustrated in Regina Krahl, Yuegutang. Eine Berliner Sammlung Chinesischer Keramik, Berlin, 2000, pl. 85. Comparable pieces have also appeared at auction, including one from the Carl Kempe Collection, sold in these rooms, 14th May 2008, lot 206; another sold in these rooms, 11th May 2016, lot 215; two sold in our New York rooms, 20th November 1973, lot 151, and 23rd / 24th May 1974, lot 259, from the collection of J. Spaulding; as well as another sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 28th November 1978, lot 8.