Lot 833. A pair of Qingbai-type jars and covers, China, Southern Song-Yuan Dynasty, 12th-13th century;  4 ¾ in. (12.5 cm.) high. Estimate $4,000 - $6,000. Price Realized $23,750. © Christie's Image Ltd 2015

Each body divided into six lobes by vertical, double incised lines, with four small loops applied to the stepped shoulder, and each with lightly stepped cover, the exterior covered with a mottled glaze of pale grey-green color pooling in the recesses, the interior and foot unglazed exposing the white ware, box

Provenance: The Collection of Robert H. Ellsworth, New York, acquired in Hong Kong, 1988.

Note: A similar covered jar, but lacking the incised vertical lines on the body and with taller neck, is illustrated in Bright as Silver, White as Snow: Chinese White Ceramics from the Late Tang to Yuan Dynasty, Hong Kong, 1998, p. 148, pl. 32, where it is cited that such covered vessels were used as storage containers for food and tea powder. Another jar with ten lobes and more bluish glaze from the Avery Brundage Collection, Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, is illustrated by S. Pierson (ed.), Qingbai Ware: Chinese Porcelain of the Song and Yuan Dynasties, Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, 2002, p. 172, pl. 91.

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.