An attractive two-handled 'amphora' vase,
Tang dynasty (618-907), the well-potted ovoid body applied with a pair of dragons arching over and descending to bite into the galleried rim on a short, waisted neck, each beast's back applied with three, buttons and a mane curling back from between a pair of spiked horns or ears, the compact white ware dipped in a finely crackled clear glaze running down to the widest part of the body, the foot with finely knife-pared edge,
27.8cm

Literature: A, very similar but taller amphora (standing at 33.3cm), from the collection of Ronald W Longsdorf​, was exhibited by Jim Lally in his October 2015 exhibition in which he ascribes the piece to having been produced by the Xing or Gongxian kiln. The, Longsdorf amphora was published by Liu, 'A Survey of Chinese Ceramics', Vol. 1, 'Early Wares: Prehistoric to Tenth Century', Taipei, 1991, p.224; Lally also compares this piece with other published pieces:
Krahl, 'Chinese Ceramics from the, Meiyintang Collection', Vol. 1, London, 1994, p.137, no. 224;
in the Musée Guimet, Paris, illustrated by Paul-David, et. al., 'The World’s Great Collections: Oriental Ceramics', Vol. 7: Musée Guimet, Paris, Tokyo, 1975, no. 21;
and in the Turner, Collection, now in the Columbia Museum of Art, illustrated in 'Eye to the East: The Turner Collection of Chinese Art', Columbia, 2008, p. 31.​

This classic Tang Dynasty shape, in both white and sancai-glazed variants, is among that dynasty's most, elegant and admired forms, so much so that, one thousand years after the originals, the emperor-collector Yongzheng (r.1723-1735) commanded potters at Jingdezhen to create revivals of the earthenware forerunners in celadon-glazed porcelain.

唐, 邢窑白瓷双龙盘口尊