A RARE YUEYAO GREEN-GLAZED CHICKEN-HEAD EWER Southern Dynasties (2)A RARE YUEYAO GREEN-GLAZED CHICKEN-HEAD EWERSouthern DynastiesThe bulbous body tapering towards the base, surmounted by a long neck with galleried rim, set on the shoulder with a double-ribbed handle ending with a dragon head biting the angular rim, opposite a chicken-head spout between two lugs on each side of the shoulder, covered overall in a thin olive-green glaze ending irregularly above the foot, the slightly recessed base left unglazed. box. 35cm (13 3/4in) high. (2).南朝 青釉龍柄雞首執壺 Provenance:A distinguished Asian private collection來源:亞洲顯赫私人收藏The production of chicken-head ewers had reached its peak in the Six Dynasties and almost disappeared after the Sui dynasty. The bigger ones like the present ewer were perfect for wine storage and smaller ones were meant to be water pots. See a closely related Southern Dynasties ewer but with a single ribbed handle excavated in Zhejiang, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Ceramic Art Unearthed in China, Beijing, 2008, vol.9, p.95; compare also with a Sui dynasty double-ribbed chicken-head ewer in the Anhui Provincial Museum collection, illustrated in ibid., vol.8, p.53; and a smaller celadon-glazed chicken-head ewer in the Metropolitan Museum collection, dated to the 3rd-4th century, illustrated by Suzanne G. Valenstein in A Handbook of Chinese Ceramics, New York, 1989, pl.2.The result of Oxford Authentication Ltd. thermoluminescence test no. P106q99 is consistent with the dating of this lot.盤口，頸內束，圓肩，肩與盤口一側黏燒龍形手鋬，另一側黏燒雞公首，左右兩側各安兩個橋形繫，圓鼓腹，下腹斜收至平底，內外施淡青釉，不及底，釉面發冰裂紋。浙江出土一件南朝青釉龍柄雞首壺形態裝飾與本件頗似，惟盤為單股，每側一個橋形繫，見《中國出土瓷器全集》，北京，2008年，卷9，頁95。此類雞首龍柄壺一直延燒到隋代，安徽省博物館藏一件隋帶青釉劃花雞首龍柄壺與本件一樣為雙龍柄，每側雙繫，見前書，卷8，頁53。紐約大都會博物館藏一件三至四世紀青釉雞首壺可資參考，惟尺寸較小，見Suzanne G. Valenstein著，《A Handbook of Chinese Ceramics》 （中國瓷器手冊），紐約，1989年，圖版2。雞首壺又稱天雞壺，有大有小，大者可做酒壺，小者可為水注，整個魏晉南北朝都頗為流行，隋朝之後鮮見。本拍品經牛津熱釋光檢測編號P106q99，結果與其斷代相符。