Bring your auction to collectors worldwide!
Get listed nowBy subscribing, you are agreeing to the privacy policy. Unsubscribe anytime.
Barnebys HQ
Brahegatan 10
BOX 5038
114 37 Stockholm
All auctions / Ancient Art / China - Ming Dynasty Stucco Sancai-glazed ridge tile...
Important Chinese terracotta sancai-glazed polychrome roof tile, depicting a Taoist dignitary, probably Cao Guojiu, one of the Eight Immortals. China, Ming dynasty, late 16th – early 17th century. The figure stands upright on a semi-cylindrical ridge tile and is distinguished by an especially elegant silhouette. It wears a long yellow-amber robe deeply pleated, enriched with turquoise-green, cream and almost black aubergine glazes. The long flowing sleeves frame the hands joined before the body around a ceremonial attribute. The face is soberly modeled, beneath a high dignitary’s hat, while the lower part of the costume is accented with a vivid turquoise. The ensemble belongs to the great tradition of Ming dynasty polychrome architectural ceramics, used to animate and symbolically protect the rooflines of temples, palaces and important buildings. The curved base, the internal cavity and the hole visible beneath the tile testify directly to this architectural function. Ming tiles preserved at the British Museum show a comparable construction; some are described as intended to be fixed on a roof ridge by means of a tenon. The museum also notes that the Ming period constitutes a particularly important moment in the development of these glazed roof figures. The technique combines a molded and formed terracotta body with colored glazes evoking the sancai palette. An example at the British Museum representing Han Xiangzi, one of the Taoist Eight Immortals, is also executed in molded terracotta with green, cream, yellow and black glazes, dated to around 1490-1620, probably in Shanxi. A second example, depicting a Buddhist monk and measuring 40.5 × 17 × 12 cm, has proportions very close to those of the present piece and receives the same general dating. The iconography merits particular attention. The figure wears the costume and headgear of a high dignitary, which had already led the house Cornette de Saint Cyr to describe it as “probably a dignitary or an immortal.” The presence of a ceremonial attribute held in front of the body allows, with caution, an identification with Cao Guojiu, an aristocratic figure of the Eight Taoist Immortals. This identification remains a bibliographic suggestion and is therefore not presented as certain. The piece also has a notably interesting ancient provenance. It belonged to the Compagnie de la Chine et des Indes, Paris, under inventory number 2612, with an acquisition recorded in Beijing in 1937. This provenance is explicitly listed in the catalog and on the sale note of Cornette de Saint Cyr. It was later shown in Paris by Cornette de Saint Cyr on March 22, 2021, lot 153, during the dispersion of the Compagnie de la Chine et des Indes collections, and was subsequently acquired at that sale by the current owner. The condition is consistent with age and the architectural function of the object. Wear, chipping, small glaze losses and old accidents are observed, as well as an old restoration at the neck reported by earlier documentation. Areas of abrasion and surface variations reveal, in places, the pale, granular body of the terracotta. These ancient alterations today contribute to the work’s particularly expressive character without compromising its overall reading. The interest of this tile lies as much in its plastic quality and glaze palette as in its clearly preserved architectural function, its probable belonging to the Taoist religious repertoire, and its documented provenance since 1937. State: Good condition considering age and architectural function. Wear and sporadic glaze losses, chipping, small flakes and minor cracks. Old restoration at the neck noted in earlier documentation; old chip at one corner of the base Dimensions: 35 × 17 × 12 cm. Weight: 2.573 kg. Provenance: Compagnie de la Chine et des Indes, Paris, inv. 2612; acquired in Beijing in 1937; Cornette de Saint Cyr, Paris, March 22, 2021, lot 153; Belgian private collection. video link: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/9s4zp9wc2sho10kl62ky2/AFN3ac2gHFL1GsTMlddZ5Ng?rlkey=b0j51cbht5uxeivtoe5ummdjk&dl=0
Estimate:$3,624.62
To the auctionView all items fromCatawikiorAncient Art
Estimate:
$3,624.62
RARE EGYPTIAN BRONZE CAT STATUETTE WITH GOLD EARRINGS - LARGE SIZE
06/21/2026
$29,141.2
Est: $26,836.62
Bring your auction to collectors worldwide!
Get listed now
Ancient Chinese, Ming dynasty Terracotta Sancai Fa-Hua Warrior Guard - 37 cm
10/09/2026
$1,365.32
APULIAN RED-FIGURE BELL KRATER WITH KOMASTOS AND MAENAD - TL TESTED
06/21/2026
$3,443.96
Est: $2,640.96
