A PHOSPHATIC-SPLASHED BLACK-GLAZED EWER, TANG DYNASTY China, 618-907. The ovoid body supported on a short, slightly tapered foot and set on the high shoulder with two small strap handles applied at the base of the waisted neck between the short conical spout and the larger strap handle. Covered with a finely crackled dark-brown glaze highlighted by splashes of milky blue glaze running down from the shoulder and neck, stopping irregularly above the foot, revealing the buff-colored body. The base carved with a spiral design.

Provenance: Collection of Lim Kee Chin, thence by descent within the same family. Lim Kee Chin was Singapore’s trade commissioner to Hong Kong in the 1960s under Yusof Ishak (1910-1970), the first President of Singapore.
Condition: Very good condition with minor old wear, ancient traces of use and shallow surface scratches, and firing flaws, intentional glaze crackling, and few small glaze losses to the interior of the neck.

Weight: 815.1 g
Dimensions: Height 17 cm, Width 16 cm (at the widest points)

Literature comparison: Compare a closely related ewer, also dated to the Tang dynasty but of slightly larger size (27 cm high), in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art, accession number 2017.17.

Auction result comparison: Compare a closely related phosphatic-splashed black-glazed ewer, also dated to the Tang dynasty, at Bonhams London in Roger Keverne Ltd Moving On on 11 May 2021, lot 85, sold for GBP 12,750, and another at Christie’s Hong Kong in The Pavilion Sale on 6 October 2015, lot 75, sold for HKD 212,500.

唐代黑釉藍斑壺
中國，618-907年。壺撇口，短頸，橢圓形腹，平底，肩部一面為流，相對一面為雙帶形曲柄，另兩面各有一系。通體施黑色釉，裡滿釉，外部施釉不到底。口、肩等部位施灰藍色斑紋為飾。底部螺旋紋。

來源：Lim Kee Chin收藏，在同一家族保存至今。Lim Kee Chin 在上世紀六十年代曾擔任新加坡駐香港貿易代表，當時尤索夫·伊薩 (1910-1970) 為新加坡總統。
品相：狀況極好，有輕微舊時磨損和使用痕跡，表面淺劃痕，有燒製瑕疵和釉面開片，頸部內部有少量釉料缺損。

重量：815.1 克
尺寸：高17 厘米, 寬16 厘米 (最寬處)

拍賣結果：比較一件相近的唐代黑釉藍斑壺，見倫敦邦翰思Roger Keverne Ltd Moving On 2021年5月11日 lot 85, 售價GBP 12,750；另一件見香港佳士得The Pavilion Sale 2015年10月6日 lot 75, 售價HKD 212,500。