Lot 785. A very large dark grey pottery model of a reliquary, China, Six Dynasties period (AD 220-589); 27 ½ in. (89.8 cm.) long. Estimate $7,000 - $9,000. Price Realized $37,500. Photo Christie's Image Ltd 2015

The high, arched end relief-decorated with a door flanked by guardians, all framed by architectural elements below a monster mask, with two monster mask roundels applied to the sides above a dragon striding amidst clouds flanked by vertical rows of medallions repeated in three rows on the arched cover

Provenance: The Collection of Robert H. Ellsworth, New York, before 1992.

Note: The shape of this reliquary is based on that of stone coffins, such as the Northern Wei example illustrated in Zhongguo wenwu jinghua daquan - jinyin yushi juan, Hong Kong, 1994, p. 309, no. 123.

Christie's. THE COLLECTION OF ROBERT HATFIELD ELLSWORTH PART IV - CHINESE WORKS OF ART: METALWORK, SCULPTURE AND EARLY CERAMICS, 20 March 2015, New York, Rockefeller Plaza.