A CELADON-GLAZED JAR AND COVER SEAL MARK AND PERIOD OF QIANLONG

of ovoid form with a shallow domed cover completing the well-proportioned shape, each side decorated with a low-relief crescent, covered overall in an intense celadon glaze, the recessed base glazed celadon and inscribed with a six-character reign mark in underglaze blue

Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, London, 1994-2010, vol. 2, no. 866.

The cover has a 1.5 cm chip to the inner lip with a few smaller nicks. The jar is in very good condition with only some light glaze abrasion. The actual colour is quite close to the catalogue illustration.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

This vessel form, with its superbly harmonious profile, integrating its cover, and its unusual C-shaped motifs on the sides appears to have originated in the Kangxi reign. The shape is often called ri yue guan ['sun-and-moon jar'], its cover supposedly representing the sun and the crescents at its sides the moon, but no comparable iconography appears to be known from other works of art. A rare Kangxi prototype of this design in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, is illustrated in Qing Kang Yong Qian ming ci tezhan / Catalog of the Special Exhibition of K'ang-hsi, Yung-cheng and Ch'ien-lung Porcelain Ware from the Ch'ing Dynasty in the National Museum Palace [sic], Taipei, 1986, cat. no. 27.

A similar jar from the T.Y. Chao collection was sold in these rooms, 19th May 1987, lot 283; one without cover in the Hong Kong Museum of Art was included in the Museum's exhibition The Wonders of the Potter's Palette. Qing Ceramics from the Collection of the Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1984-5, cat. no. 79; and a Daoguang copy, lacking the raised C-shaped motifs, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is published in Geng Baochang, ed., Gugong Bowuyuan cang gu taoci ciliao xuancui [Selection of ancient ceramic material from the Palace Museum], Beijing, 2005, vol. II, pl. 278.