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Molded Flask with Dancing Boys
Tang Dynasty, 680-908 AD, China
Height: 13.2 cm
A molded flask with steeply beveled base and a truncated heart-shaped body. The shoulders are surmounted by two ring handles and a neck with flattened mouth-rim. The front and back are decorated with deeply molded decoration of a male dancer with flowing scarf, surrounded by scrolling vines. The decoration is inspired by Hellenistic design, as transmitted by Sasanian metalwork from the Silk Road, which influenced the late Sui - Early Tang Dynasty Chinese ceramic decorative vocabulary.
Provenance:
JJ Lally and Co., New York, 2000
Stephen Kunian Collection, Boston
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