A lavender-glazed ritual altar vessel and cover (dou), Guangxu mark and period. Estimate 8,000 — 12,000 USD. Photo: Sotheby's.

the rounded bowl supported on a columnar base encircled with a raised band and terminating in a flared pedestal foot, surmounted by a fitted  domed cover with globular knop, molded with bands of archaistic design in crisp, shallow relief, and applied overall with a lustrous purple-tinged blue glaze, the interior and base white-glazed, the six-character mark incised in a line inside the foot (2) - Height 10 in., 25.4 cm

Provenance: Acquired in the 1970s or 80s.

Note: The stembowl and cover, modeled after a Zhou dynasty bronze prototype, would have formed part of an altar set comprising two dou and a fu. The present piece would have been used in state rituals, for which different colors of vessels were designated for use at different sites. 

Sotheby's. Important Chinese Art, New York, 15 sept. 2015