China, 2^nd century BC to 2^nd century AD. The bulbous body raised on a spreading foot ring and surmounted by an arched neck terminating in a duck head, neatly detailed with round eyes and a long beak, a rimmed aperture in the top of the head, the vessel finely painted in red, black, and white with feathers and geometric decorations between horizontal bands.

Provenance: From the collection of Joseph Rondina (1927-2022), who was born into a first-generation Florentine-American family in Auburn, upstate New York. Returning to the U.S. after being stationed in Berlin at the end of the Second World War, he studied at the Whitman School of Design before opening Joseph Rondina Antiques on Madison Avenue in Manhattan’s Upper East Side in 1957. In the beginning, his interests focused primarily on European 18th-century decorative arts and furniture, over time developing to include Chinese, Korean, Indian, Thai, Cambodian, Persian and Japanese art, bringing a more esoteric and exotic style to the market. His clientele included stars of the stage and screen, royalty, notables, dignitaries, and denizens of the social register from the United States and abroad.
Condition: Excellent condition, commensurate with age. Old repairs and minor touchups as generally expected from authentic Han dynasty excavations. Wear, flaking, losses to pigment, small nicks, minor chips, light scratches, soil encrustations.

Weight: 3,364 g
Dimensions: Height 31.5 cm

Literature comparison:
Compare a related goose-headed vessel, 34.8 cm high, dated to the Western Han dynasty, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession number 1994.605.17. A closely related vessel in the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art is illustrated in A Handbook of the Collection, New York, 1993, p. 286 (upper left). Compare the smaller (21 cm) pair of painted pottery ducks dated to the Han dynasty, 1st century BC or 1st century AD, in the Meiyintang Collection, illustrated by Regina Krahl in Chinese Ceramics in the Meiyintang Collection, London, vol. 1, London, 1994, p. 49, fig. 14. Like the present vessel, the Meiyintang vessels also have apertures at the top.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s, 21 March 2000, lot 239
Price: USD 6,900 or approx. EUR 11,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A grey pottery duck-headed vessel, Warring States period/Western Han dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form with a similar aperture in the top of the head. Note this vessel shows only faint traces of pigment as opposed to the present lot. Note the similar size (33 cm).



漢代彩繪鴨頭陶器
中國，公元前二世紀至公元二世紀。鴨頭陶器，圓圓的眼睛和長長的嘴巴，頭頂有一個孔，頸部彎曲，彩繪，羽毛和幾何紋飾，圈足。

來源：Joseph Rondina (1927-2022年) 私人收藏。Joseph Rondina (1927-2022年) 出生於紐約州北部奧本的第一代佛羅倫薩美國人家庭。第二次世界大戰結束後駐紮在柏林，後回到美國。之後他在惠特曼設計學院學習，於 1957 年在曼哈頓上東區的麥迪遜大街開設了 Joseph Rondina 古董店。一開始，他的興趣主要集中在歐洲十八世紀的裝飾藝術和家具。隨著時間的推移，他開始收集印度、中國、韓國和日本的藝術。他的客戶包括來自美國和國外的銀幕明星、皇室成員、名人、政要和社會名流。
品相：狀態極佳，小修補，磨損、彩繪剝落、小劃痕、小缺口、小刻痕、污垢與結殼。

重量：3,364 克
尺寸：高 31.5 厘米

文獻比較：
比較一件相近的西漢鵝頭陶器，34.8 厘米高，收藏於大都會藝術博物館，館藏編號1994.605.17。一件非常相近的瓶，收藏於Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art ，見《A Handbook of the Collection》，紐約，1993，頁286 (左上)。比較一對尺寸較小(21 厘米)的公元前一世紀至一世紀漢代彩繪鴨頭陶器，收藏於Meiyintang Collection，見《Regina Krahl in Chinese Ceramics in the Meiyintang Collection》，倫敦，卷1，1994，頁49，圖14。Meiyintang收藏的陶器和現拍品一樣，頭頂有孔。

拍賣結果比較：
形制：非常相近
拍賣：佳士得，2000年3月21日，lot 239
價格：USD 6,900（相當於今日EUR 11,500）
描述：戰國時期 / 西漢灰陶鴨頭器
專家評論：比較非常相近的外形和頭頂相似的孔。請注意此陶器只有不明顯的彩繪色，以及相似的尺寸(33 厘米)。