A small 'Qingbai' ewer and cover, Song dynasty. Estimate 20,000 — 30,000 USD. Photo Sotheby's.

the ewer of broad melon shape, rising from a slightly recessed base to a small cylindrical neck, set on one side with a curved spout and a flat handle on the other, the body with lobed sides and a raised scalloped band to resemble a ewer sitting in a warming basin, the neck with a row of lotus petals radiating from the base, the cover similarly molded with a mandarin duck finial, covered overall with a pale blue glaze pooling in the recessed areas, stopping just above the foot to reveal the white body (2). Height 4 1/2  in., 11.4 cm

Notes: See a related example, but with a different molded cover in the Muwen Tang collection and included in the exhibitionSong Ceramics from the Kwan Collection, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1994, cat. no. 108; and another from the Kai-Yin Lo Collection, included in the exhibition Bright as Silver, White as Snow, Hong Kong, 1998, cat. no. 52.

Sotheby's. Song Tradition: Early Ceramics from the Yang De Tang Collection. New York, 17 mars 2015, 11:00 AM