A RARE YUAN BLUE AND WHITE JAR, guan, with ovoid body, short cylindrical neck and dish-shaped mouth, the broad sloping shoulder with two high-relief lion-masks, pierced through the jaw, painted around the body with an arching peony scroll comprising six blooms, three in profile, two full-faced and one pendent, between a classic scroll band and a frieze of flying phoenixes and chrysanthemum, the upper shoulder with a lotus meander, below a lotus meander around the upper shoulder, the neck with a chrysanthemum scroll below classic scroll around the rim, the base with a band of lotus panels containing ogee lappets, all in bold blue tones darkening where the cobalt has precipitated on to the glaze surface (small area of neck restored),