Chinese Han Dynasty Painted Pottery Cocoon Jar

This wonderfully-shaped pottery vessel, usually referred to as a "cocoon" jar was made over 2,000 years ago during the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC - AD 8)...

Chinese Han Dynasty Painted Pottery Cocoon Jar

This wonderfully-shaped pottery vessel, usually referred to as a "cocoon" jar was made over 2,000 years ago during the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC - AD 8)...

Chinese Han Dynasty Incised & Burnished Pottery Cocoon Jar

This wonderfully-shaped pottery jar was made during the early part of the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC - AD 8), or possibly the preceding Qin Dynasty (221 - 206 BC). This type of jar is usually referred to as a "cocoon jar" due to the shape of its body. Its original function was that of a grain storage jar. This particular example has a wide foot, neck and mouth compared to the size of its body...

Chinese 19th Century Glazed Stoneware Shipwreck Jar

Many years ago we bought a small group of jars of this type. We were told they dated to the Song Dynasty (AD 960 - 1279) and had been in storage, having several years earlier been recovered from a shipwreck off Thailand. To the base of each jar is written an inventory number (we were told around 200 of these jars were excavated but how accurate this is, we do not know)...

Chinese 19th Century Glazed Stoneware Shipwreck Jar

Many years ago we bought a small group of jars of this type. We were told they dated to the Song Dynasty (AD 960 - 1279) and had been in storage, having several years earlier been recovered from a shipwreck off Thailand. To the base of each jar is written an inventory number (we were told around 200 of these jars were excavated but how accurate this is, we do not know)...

Rare Chinese Sui Dynasty Glazed & Painted Pottery Horse & Rider (AD 581 - 618) (Ex. Roger Moss Collection)

This rare and finely-detailed model of a horse and rider was made during the Sui Dynasty. The horse stands upright with head straight ahead but slightly lowered. The dignitary sits upright upon the horse with his hands raised and wears elaborate robes and headgear. It is made from a relatively highly-fired buff-coloured pottery...

Large Chinese Song / Yuan Dynasty Glazed Buddhist Jar with Sanskrit Inscription

This large and impressive pottery jar was made around the 13th / 14th century, during the Song Dynasty (AD 960 - 1279) or the Yuan Dynasty (AD 1279 - 1368). Until recent years, this type of jar was almost unknown in the west with some people initially attributing them to the Liao Dynasty (same general period but in the north of China)...

Large Chinese Song / Yuan Dynasty Glazed Buddhist Jar

This large and impressive pottery jar was made around the 13th / 14th century, during the Song Dynasty (AD 960 - 1279) or the Yuan Dynasty (AD 1279 - 1368). Until recent years, this type of jar was almost unknown in the west with some people initially attributing them to the Liao Dynasty (same general period but in the north of China). These jars are now known to have originated from Yunnan province in the south-west of China...

Chinese Tang Dynasty Painted Pottery Horse (AD 618 - 906)

This pottery horse was made during the early part of the Tang Dynasty (AD 618 - 906). It stands upright with its head turned very slightly to its left. It is made from a buff-coloured pottery and is particularly "heavily-potted". Looking inside the body shows it was made in a two-piece mould. It has been "cold painted" in a base coat of a creamy-white pigment with details picked out in red and black pigments...

Chinese Neolithic Twin-Handled Pottery Jar - Qijia Culture (c. 2050 - 1700 BC)

This attractively-shaped pottery jar, or cup, was made around 4,000 years ago by peoples of the Neolithic Qijia Culture (c. 2050 - 1700 BC), from what is now eastern Gansu province, China. It is made from a fine-grained grey pottery that is fairly highly-fired. There are two "strap" handles joined at the waist and mouth edge. The surface has been burnished making it smooth to the touch...

A Fine Pair of Large Chinese Ming Dynasty Painted Pottery Tiles - Deer

This fine-quality pair of highly decorative pottery tiles was made during the Ming Dynasty (AD 1368 - 1644). They are made from a grey pottery and the decoration in relief features a pair of deer in a landscape. Note the detail to the deer, the carved and incised decoration as well as the impressed flower blossoms to the deers' bodies...

Chinese Tang Dynasty Painted Pottery Horse (AD 618 - 906)

This very attractive pottery model of a horse was made during the Tang Dynasty (AD 618 - 906). It is made from a buff-coloured pottery that has been "cold painted" in a reddish-brown pigment with black and white pigments to highlight the head, mane and tail...

Very Rare Chinese Neolithic Qijia Culture Pottery Jar

This rare and unusual jar was made some 4,000 years ago by peoples of the Neolithic Qijia Culture (c. 2050 - 1700 BC), in the north of China, what is now eastern Gansu province. It is made from a gritty reddish pottery. The outer surface has the impressions made by the shaping tool and there are horizontal notched strips of clay applied to the lower body. What makes this jar so rare and unusual, however, are the four loop handles and the...

Large Chinese Han Dynasty Pottery Ox with Oxford TL Test (206 BC - AD 220)

This large pottery model of an ox, or bull, was made during the Han Dynasty (206 BC - AD 220). It is made from a relatively high-fired grey pottery which has made it much more durable than lower-fired examples.

Length 36 cm (14 inches), height 21 cm (8.25 inches). It is in outstanding condition; although one horn appears to have been broken and re-stuck, there is no obvious sign of any other restoration or repa...

Rare Chinese Han Dynasty Pottery Dish with Painted Fish Pattern

This rare pottery dish, or shallow bowl, was made during the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC - AD 220). Most known Han Dynasty pottery objects tend to be jars or figures with dishes and bowls being quite rare. This is quite a large dish with a diameter of 25 cm. It is made from a dark grey pottery that is relatively highly-fired. The inner surface has been painted with a pattern featuring three fish surrounded by simple bands and ge...

Very Rare Large Chinese Five Dynasties / Song Dynasty Pottery Jar with Oxford TL Test

This large and impressive pottery jar of exceptional form was made during the Five Dynasties period (AD 907 - 960) or possible the early part of the Song Dynasty (AD 960 - 1279). It is a wide-bodied jar with sturdy handles and quite a small flat base, an unusual form for this period. Its form is reminiscent of some Han Dynasty pottery jars of around a thousand years earlier, although this jar is much more "...

Lovely Neolithic jar with a single lug from the Qijia or Siwa Cultures circa 1500BCE. Please view the enlargements as this piece has a lot more going for it than it appears at first- 1# please note the bottom where you can see the impression of the woven mat where it was coiled and hand molded using a paddle, 2# the handle has four “ribs”, 3# circling the neck of the jar are a series of indentations made by a human fingernail and 4# the lower half has subtle incised diagonal line...

Chinese Eastern Han Dynasty Glazed Granary Jar with Cover

Although many different Han Dynasty granary jars are known, this example is quite rare. It was made during the Eastern Han Dynasty (AD 25 - 220) from a relatively high-fired red pottery, quite "heavily-potted", that has been glazed in two different colours. Mostly it is coated in an attractive amber coloured glaze. The upper band of a different colour was originally coated in a green glaze that has, as a result of very long burial in da...