A ‘YUEYAO’ IRON-SPLASHED CELADON BOX AND COVER EASTERN JIN DYNASTY

of circular form, the gently domed cover incised with concentric rings and surmounted by a floral knop, the exterior covered in a translucent olive-green glaze splashed with iron-brown spots, Japanese wood box

Chūgoku meitou hyakusen ten [Chinese ceramics. A loan exhibition of one hundred selected masterpieces], Osaka Namba Takashimaya, Osaka, 1961, cat. no. 2.
Chūgoku tōji meiho ten [Exhibition of the great works of Chinese ceramics], Gotoh Museum, Tokyo, 1966.
Toyo kan kaikan kinen toyo bijutsu ten [Exhibition of Eastern art. Celebrating the opening of the Gallery of Eastern Antiquities], Tokyo National Museum, Tokyo, 1968, cat. no. 356.
Chūgoku bijutsu ten series. Rikucho no bijutsu [Chinese art exhibition series. The art of Six Dynasties], vol. 2, Osaka Art Museum, Osaka, 1975, cat. no. 1-54.
Tokubetsu tenji go. Higashi Asia no futamono [Special exhibition box and cover. Eastern Asian box and cover], Kuboso Memorial Museum of Arts, Osaka, 1984, cat. no. 8.

Toki zuroku shina hen (Jo) [A pictorial catalogue of pottery, China], vol. 7, Tokyo, 1938, pl. 26.
Seiichi Okuda, Sakutarou Tanaka, Fukosai Hirota, Haruzo Hayashi (eds), Chūgoku no tōji [Chinese ceramics], Tokyo, 1955, pl. 58.
Fujiō Koyama ed., Sekai tōji zenshū. Chūgoku jodai hen [Collection of world ceramics. Ancient China], vol. 8, Tokyo, 1961, pl. 16.
Fujiō Koyama, Tōji taikei. Seiji [The Outline of Ceramics: Celadon], Tokyo, 1978, pl. 3.
Masahiko Sato, Chūgoku tōji shi [The history of Chinese ceramics], Tokyo, 1978, pl. 57.
Tsuguo Mikami, Toki koza Chūgoku I kodai [Ceramics course China, I. Antiquities], vol. 5, Tokyo, 1982, pl. 57.

The box has restoration and over-painting to a 9cm., wide crescent-shaped section of the rim with two further associated cracks extending circa 17cm., max into the interior/exterior, minor glaze firing imperfections including glaze pulls, adhered grit and blisters and a 4.5 x 1.5cm., area of encrustation to the cover due to burial.
"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."

Compare a small Yue jar and cover similarly decorated with concentric circles in splashed iron spots from the Meiyintang collection, illustrated in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, vol. 3, London, 2006, pl. 1347. See also a covered bowl of this type, in the Nanjing Museum, Nanjing, illustrated in Zhongguo meshu quanji. Taoci [Complete Series of Chinese Art. Ceramics], vol. 1, Shanghai, 1988, pl. 208; another in the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, published in René-Yvon Lefebvre D’Argencé, Chinese Ceramics in the Avery Brundage Collection, Berkeley, 1967, pl. XIV D; and a third in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, illustrated in William Watson, Pre-Tang Ceramics of China, London, 1991, pl. 107.