Lot 10. A Hutian qingbai carved 'lotus' jar and cover, Song dynasty (960-1279); h. 17.5 cm. Estimate: 800,000 - 1,200,000 HKD. Lot sold: 630,000 HKD. Courtesy Sotheby's.

carved around the bulbous body with two main registers of overlapping petals, covered overall in an ice-blue glaze falling short of the base to reveal the white body, the similarly glazed domed cover carved with corresponding petal motifs and surmounted by a 'lotus bud' finial.

Note : This covered jar, crisply decorated with overlapping petals, illustrates characteristics of the ceramics from the Hutian kilns of Jingdezhen prior to the introduction of cobalt blue in the Yuan dynasty that shifted the potters’ interest to blue-and-white porcelain. The kilns’ output at that time is noted for its rich relief designs, fanciful figurative details and intense greenish-blue glaze.

Sotheby's. Monochrome III, Hong Kong, 22 April 2021