Lot 1440. A pair of large painted grey pottery jars and covers, hu, Western Han dynasty (206 BC-AD 8); 22 5/8 in. (57.4 cm.) high (2). Estimate USD 6,000 - USD 8,000. Price Realised  USD 20,000. Photo Christie's Image Ltd 2011.

Each raised on a tall, splayed pedestal foot and molded around the bulbous body with two pairs of bow string bands, the uppermost register divided by a pair of taotie masks, beneath archaistic scrolls framed within upright blades painted in red and lavender on the neck, the design repeated on the domed covers, all reserved on the greyish-black body.

Provenance: Acquired in New York in 1992. 

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art Part I & II, 15 September 2011, New York, Rockefeller Plaza