Raised on a slightly tapering foot, the bulbous body curving to the slightly lipped rim flanked by two loop handles, the exterior and mouth covered with a thick purplish red glaze with a fine craquelure and patches of sky blue on one side. 

Provenance: Mr and Mrs Alfred Clark, no.AIC 716
Sotheby's London, 25 March 1975, lot 95
Sotheby's London, 11 December 1979, lot 227

Exhibited : Exhibition of Chinese Art for Chinese Medical Relief, London, 1938
Oriental Ceramic Society Exhibition of Sung Dynasty Wares, Chün and Brown Glazes, 1952, Catalogue no. 151

Note: Within the realms of connoisseurship of Junyao pieces, much emphasis is unsurprisingly placed on the quality of the thick, opalescent glaze. The most important characteristic of Jun glaze is the phenomenon known as 'liquid phase separation' which is the formulation of tiny globules of lime-rich glass within the silica-rich glaze matrix, giving the attractive light-reflecting blue effect. To produce this effect, the glaze had to be kept at a very high temperature for a significant period before being cooled slowly. 

Jun ware production understandably required great skill and control of the glaze and the firing conditions. Cooling for too long, for example, encouraged the growth of wollastonite crystals, a few of which could increase the textural appeal of the glaze, but too many would reduce the translucency. Such delicate balances perhaps encouraged a degree of experimentation as the effects of minute changes were observed and understood, leading to the development of new styles of Jun decoration. Most notably from the end of the 11th century, red or purple splashes were added to the blue glaze by applying copper oxide to the surface of the unfired glaze.  

The present lot is highly unusual in its almost entirely red surface. Compare a similarly-shaped jar but with a mostly blue glaze, dated to the Yuan dynasty, illustrated in A Panorama of Ceramics in the Collection of the National Palace Museum: Chün Ware, Taipei, 1999, no.104. 

Bonhams. FINE CHINESE ART. London, New Bond Street. 7 Nov 2013