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.