A GREY POTTERY 'OWL' JUG Qijia culture, Neolithic Modelled in the form of a stylised owl, with rounded body tapering towards the foot, supporting a face with pierced circles representing the eyes and a 'piecrust' ridge between them evoking a long nose leading to the jagged hairline which crowns the opening of the vessel above the face, the back of the jug supporting a small handle. 16cm (6 1/4in) high. Footnotes: Please note this Lot is to be sold at No Reserve. 本拍品不設底價 齊家文化 灰陶鴟鴞形盉 Provenance: Acquired from Sandra and David Dykes, London, in 1997 (collector's notes) Published, Illustrated and Exhibited: The Oriental Ceramic Society, China Without Dragons: Rare Pieces from Oriental Ceramic Society Members, London, 2016, p.30, no.6 Published and Illustrated: M. White, Beasts at the Whites' House: A selection of ceramics from the Whites' House collection, vol.1, n.p, 2020, p.157 Pottery vessels depicting faces of owls were popular during the Neolithic and Bronze Ages, particularly during the Qijia culture (2400-1600 B.C., in present-day Gansu and Qinghai provinces). Owls were symbolic creatures which represented wisdom and guidance, the use of such vessels during funerary rituals were therefore believed to help aid safe passage into the afterlife. See a comparable 'owl-head' jug, circa 2300-1500 B.C.E., in the Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum (2006.170.62), and another, circa 2000-1500 B.C., in R. Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, London, 1994-2010, vol.1, p.38, cat.no.50 & 51. A similar pottery owl-form ewer, circa 2050-1700 B.C., was sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 25 May 2022, lot 827. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing