Lot 702. A burnished black pottery jar and cover, hu, Warring States Period-Early Western Han Dynasty,3rd-2nd century BC; 12¾ in. (32.5 cm.) high. Estimate USD 4,000 - USD 6,000. Price realised USD 75,000. © Christie’s Image Ltd 2014

The jar and cover have a burnished black exterior. The body of the jar is encircled by three double-grooved bands -- one mid-body, the other two forming the borders of a wide matte band decorated with burnished vertical zigzags on the shoulder below the waisted neck. A related matte band encircles the spreading pedestal foot, and is repeated on the low conical cover where it is interrupted by three apertures for the insertion of finials. 

Provenance: Anna Ilsley Ball Kneeland (1865-1955), New York, acquired 1918-1931, and thence by descent within the family.

Exhibited: On loan: Yale University Art Gallery, 1955 to April 2014.

Note: Anna Ilsley Ball (1869-1955) married Yale Kneeland (1896-1933) in Buffalo, New York shortly after his graduation from Yale University in 1890. Mr. Kneeland had a successful business in the brokerage and distribution of grains. The business expanded greatly during WWI, as he sent tons of cereal grains to the Allied troops. After the war, Mr. Kneeland sold his portion of company, moved to New York, and dedicated his time to his family and developing his collection of rare books and manuscripts, while Mrs. Kneeland focused on collecting Chinese works of art.

Christie’s. FINE CHINESE CERAMICS AND WORKS OF ART, 18 – 19 September 2014, New York, Rockefeller Plaza.