Sancai-Glazed Washer

Earthenware, Sancai Lead based Glaze
Tang Dynasty (AD618– 907)
China
D: 10.3cm H: 3.5cm

The washer with rounded sides and a flat base is decorated with the typical sancai colours of amber, straw and green on both the interior and exterior, the centre with three sesame-shaped spur marks. The exterior displays an exquisite crisply moulded design of quatrefoils, rings, dots and leaf designs, imitating contemporaneous metalwork.

• A comparable washer was sold in the Christies H.K sale room in 2015
• Another similar example is in the Metropolitan Museum, N.Y; accession number: 50.221.12, but with a less crisp moulded decoration.
• An example with a similar moulded design is in the Victoria and Albert Museum, U.K. museum number: C.72-1925.