The Eugene and Elva Bernat white-glazed ‘Amphora’ vase Tang dynasty | 唐 白釉雙龍耳瓶

Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Eugene Bernat (1896-1982).

Sotheby’s New York, 7^th November 1980, lot 54.

Christie’s New York, 4^th June 1987, lot 156.

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尤金•貝納特(1896-1982) 伉儷珍藏

紐約蘇富比，1980年11月7日，編號54

紐約佳士得，1987年6月4日，編號156

Tang amphorae of this flamboyant form, with freely modeled dragon heads, are among the most characteristic vessel forms of the early Tang dynasty and reflect the international spirit of the period. Their form was inspired by Hellenistic glass vases made in the Roman Empire whose style reached China via the Silk Route, where it was modified by the addition of dragon heads. One of the rare extant Roman glass vessels of this form, which is based on Greek pottery vessels, is the famous amphora found in Olbia on Sardinia, Italy, which can be dated to the 2^nd half of the 2^nd century AD, and is now on display in the Altes Museum, Berlin, Germany (fig. 1, 59.6 cm tall, cover replaced).

While this form was frequently reproduced in China, the present piece is remarkable for its harmonious proportions, its applications around the shoulder and the raised ribs around its neck. An amphora with related applications and grooved ribs on the neck is in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Gugong Bowuyuan cang wenwu zhenpin quanji. Jin Tang ciqi/The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Porcelain of the Jin and Tang Dynasties, Hong Kong, 1996, no. 159, where it is noted how rare it is to find such amphorae with applied motifs.

White stoneware pieces of this type can be attributed to the Gongyi kilns in Henan province. Several white dragon-handled amphorae without applications are included in Zhongguo gu ciyao daxi. Zhongguo Gongyi yao/Series of China’s Ancient Porcelain Kiln Sites. Gongyi Kiln of China, Beijing, 2011, where it is suggested, pp. 325f., that pieces with long neck are predating pieces with short neck, and a colour-glazed example of very similar proportions, excavated from a tomb at Guanlin, Luoyang, illustrated fig. 4: 6, is attributed to the period of 618 – c. 690; several white pieces excavated from Tang tombs in the Gongyi region, fragments of similar dragon-head handles from the Baihe kiln site in Gongyi, and one further example from the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing, are illustrated, ibid., pp. 97-99; p. 262; p. 270, figs 7 and 8; p. 282, fig. 3; p. 309, fig. 16; and p. 413.

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此款雙龍耳瓶華美瑰麗，龍首造型生動自由，乃唐初經典器型，反映此時期中外交流之國際精神。此瓶器型靈感來自中亞西部希臘化時期、製於羅馬帝國之玻璃器，或沿絲路傳入中土，再演變為瓶耳帶龍首之造型。而此款羅馬玻璃雙耳瓶，又源自希臘陶罐，現存一著名作例，意大利撒丁島奧爾比亞出土，或斷代公元後二世紀下半葉，現藏於德國柏林Altes Museum（圖1， 59.6公分高，非原蓋）。 

本瓶器型雖常見於中國，唯本品比例勻稱，瓶肩貼花及瓶頸凸弦均見不凡。比較一例，瓶肩及瓶頸凸弦與本品相近，北京故宮博物院藏，圖載《故宮博物院藏文物珍品全集：晉唐瓷器》，香港，1996年，編號159，作者論述，貼花之雙耳瓶甚為罕見。

此款白釉器，見於河南鞏義窰。比較數白釉雙龍耳作例，無貼花，載於《中國古瓷窰大系：中國鞏義窰》，北京，2011年，作者論述（頁325f），瓶頸較長者比頸較短者時期更早，洛陽關林出土一彩釉例，比例與本品非常相近，圖4: 6，斷代618年至大約690年間；另比數白釉例，鞏義附近唐代古墓出土；相近龍耳破片，見於鞏義白河窰，北京故宮博物院亦藏一例，前述出處，頁97-99；頁262；頁270，圖 7 及8；頁282，圖3；頁309，圖16；頁413。