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Ewer in the form of a phoenix
- loan
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Details
- Associated place
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Asia › China › Henan province (place of creation)
- Date
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7th - 8th century AD (AD 601 - 800)
Tang Dynasty (AD 618 - 907)
- Material and technique
- earthenware, individual sections thrown and luted together with slip, and with mould-made decoration under a transparent glaze; unglazed base; glazed rim
- Dimensions
- 32.8 x 15.1 x 12.3 cm (height x width x depth)
- Material index
- Technique index
- Object type index
- No. of items
- 1
- Credit line
- Lent by the Sir Alan Barlow Collection Trust.
- Accession no.
- LI1301.247
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Further reading
University of Sussex, and Arts and Humanities Research Council, The Barlow Collection, supervised by Regina Krahl, Maurice Howard, and Aiden Leeves (Sussex: University of Sussex, 2006), no. C235
Glossary (5)
earthenware, glaze, luted, phoenix, slip
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earthenware
Ceramic material made of clay which is fired to a temperature of c.1000-1200⁰c. The resulting ceramic is non-vitreous and varies in colour from dark red to yellow.
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glaze
Vitreous coating applied to the surface of a ceramic to make it impermeable or for decorative effect.
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luted
The fusion of parts of ceramics using dilute clay slip.
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phoenix
Mythical bird known as hōō in Japan. The Islamic tradition appropriated the far-eastern iconography of the phoenix and used it to represent another mythical bird, the simurgh.
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slip
A semi-fluid clay applied to a ceramic before glazing either to coat the surface or for decorative effect.
Location
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- currently in research collection
Objects are sometimes moved to a different location. Our object location data is usually updated on a monthly basis. Contact the Jameel Study Centre if you are planning to visit the museum to see a particular object on display, or would like to arrange an appointment to see an object in our reserve collections.
Publications online
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The Barlow Collection
The slender ewer is of oval section, formed from two vertical moulds, the pear-shaped body resting on a splayed mock foot, the neck with a phoenix head moulded in relief, with a sharp beak holding a pearl, distinct eyes, curly eyebrows, small ears and a shaped foliate crest below the oval mouth of the vessel. A handle with curling foliate terminals joins the bird’s head with the ewer’s shoulder. Both sides are moulded in relief with an oval flower-framed panel enclosing on one side an equestrian archer in flying gallop aiming his bow backwards to perform the ‘Parthian shot’, and on the other side a phoenix, standing on one leg, with wings spread and tail pointing up. The beige-coloured earthenware bears a transparent straw-coloured glaze, which is crackled and partly degraded, and ends around the foot, leaving the flat base unglazed.
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