A rare biscuit-decorated blue-ground pear-shaped vase. JiaJing six-character mark written in white slip in a line and of the period  (1522-1566). Photo: Christie´s Images Ltd 2010

The body decorated on one side below the mark with a dragon leaping amidst clouds between two dragons that continue around the sides, all reserved in the biscuit and detailed in white slip in contrast to the dark blue ground, the two ribs encircling the neck and the rim of the dished mouth also left in the biscuit; 10¼ in. (26 cm.) high - Estimate $6,000 - $8,000

Provenance: R.C. Bruce Collection.
Ruth Dreyfus Collection, 1970.

Exhibited: 3500 Years of Chinese Art: Ceramics from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, Israel Museum, Jerusalem, 1987.

Notes : This very rare vase is similar to a pair illustrated by J. Harrison-Hall, Ming Ceramics in the British Museum, London, 2001, p. 242, nos. 9:57 and 9:58. Another pair can be seen as part of a five-piece garniture in the Musée Guimet, illustrated in Oriental Ceramics, The World's Great Collections, vol. 7, Tokyo/New York/San Francisco, 1981, pl. 66.

A Cizhou-type brown-painted ovoid jar. Yuan dynasty, 13th-14th century. Photo: Christie´s Images Ltd 2010

Painted in brown on a white slip with a broad band of flower sprays below a band of overlapping petals and foliate sprays between the four ribbed strap handles surrounding the neck, all covered with a clear glaze, the lower body and interior of the foot covered with an olive-brown glaze; 12¼ in. (31 cm.) high - Estimate $5,000 - $7,000

Provenance: Warren E. Cox & Assoc., New York, prior to 1978.

Notes: The result of Oxford thermoluminescence test no. 466d5 is consistent with the dating of this lot.

A Cizhou-type russet-splashed blackish-brown-glazed ovoid jar. Jin dynasty, 12th-13th century. Photo: Christie´s Images Ltd 2010

With waisted neck and a pair of small ribbed strap handles joined by two grooved lines on top of the high shoulder, freely painted in sweeping strokes in russet slip with two large phoenixes in flight reserved against the lustrous black glaze that continues to the edge of the foot, interior of foot also glazed; 7¾ in. (19.7 cm.) high - Estimate $5,000 - $7,000

Provenance: Warren E. Cox & Assoc., New York, prior to 1978.

Exhibited: 3500 Years of Chinese Art: Ceramics from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, Israel Museum, Jerusalem, 1987.

A large impressed dark grey pottery ovoid jar. Warring States period (475-221 BC). Photo: Christie´s Images Ltd 2010

The tall body tapering from the rounded shoulder to a flat base, impressed allover with a mesh pattern below the outward-curved rim; 18 3/8 in. (46.7 cm.) high - Estimate $4,000 - $6,000

Provenance: Frank Caro, New York, prior to 1965.

Exhibited: Columbia University, New York, February 1965.
3500 Years of Chinese Art: Ceramics from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, Israel Museum, Jerusalem, 1987.

Notes: The result of Oxford thermoluminescence test no. 466b22 is consistent with the dating of this lot.

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art Including Property from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections. 16 September 2010. New York, Rockefeller Plaza www.christies.com