Amphora with dragon handles
- DATE:
- 7th century CE
- MATERIAL AND TECHNIQUE:
- Stoneware with cream-colored glaze
- CLASSIFICATION:
- Containers
- DIMENSIONS:
- Height: 18 1/32 in. (45.817 cm) Diameter: 9 1/8 in. (23.2 cm)
- DEPARTMENT:
- Arts of Asia
- LOCATION:
- Arts of Asia - China, Level 3
- CREDIT LINE:
- Dallas Museum of Art, purchased with a grant from the Virginia C. and Floyd C. Ramsey Fund of Communities Foundation of Texas, Inc.
- COPYRIGHT:
- Image courtesy Dallas Museum of Art
- OBJECT NUMBER:
- 1985.119
General Description
Vessels with unusual shapes were popular items for potters. The types included zoomorphic ewers, or pouring vessels, shaped like fantastic animals or birds such as this one, a popular chicken-spouted ewer with dragon-form handles. During the Tang dynasty (618-906 C.E.) in particular, ewers and amphoras like this, with animal or dragon-form handles show the creature biting the rim. This vessel is possibly related to the chicken-spouted ewer with a single dragon-form handle which was widely produced during the Six Dynasties and Sui periods (3rd to 7th centuries CE). However, here the vessel has a second handle, and the chicken-head spout on the shoulder has been reduced to accommodate appliqué masks applied at the base of each handle.
Adapted from
Dr. Anne Bromberg, The Cecil and Ida Green Curator of Ancient and Asian Art, DMA label copy (1985.119), June 2005.