KANGXI SIX-CHARACTER MARK IN UNDERGLAZE BLUE WITHIN A DOUBLE CIRCLE AND OF THE PERIOD (1662-1722)

Jars of this form with a cover are sometimes called ri yue guan ('sun and moon jar'), or yueya er guan ('jar with crescent moon handles'), where the cover is supposed to represent the sun and the crescents at the sides the moon. This form appears to have originated in the Kangxi period, however, it is very rare to find one example with blue glaze. A closely related vessel from the Kangxi period in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, is illustrated in Qing Kang Yong Qian ming ci tezhan (Catalogue of the Special Exhibition of K’ang-his, Yung-chen and Chi’ien-lung Porcelain Ware from the Ch’ing Dynasty in the National Palace Museum), Taipei, 1986, no. 27. An example identified specifically as a tea caddy is illustrated in Empty Vessels, Replenished Minds: The Culture, Practice, and Art of Tea, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 2002, p. 178, no. 156; and another in Qing Imperial Porcelain of the Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong Reigns, Art Gallery, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1995, no. 68.

Vessels of this shape from the Qianlong period are usually covered with a celadon glaze, see a jar and cover from the Qianlong period, illustrated by R. Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, London, 1994, vol. II, p. 211, no. 866, and subsequently sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 3 April 2012, lot 14. Also compare to a Qianlong period vessel of the same shape and with celadon-glaze sold at Christie's London, 8 November 2011, lot 323 and another jar from the Studio of the Clear Garden, sold at Christie’s New York, 22 March 2018, lot 615.