清乾隆

This ovoid jar and cover are of a well-known form, sometimes called a ri yue guan ('sun and moon jar'), or yueya er guan, ('jar with crescent moon handles'). Compare very similar examples, including one illustrated by R. Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, London, 1994, vol. II, p. 211, no. 866; one identified specifically as a tea caddy, illustrated in Empty Vessels, Replenished Minds: The Culture, Practise, and Art of Tea, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 2002, p. 178, no. 156; and another illustrated in Qing Imperial Porcelain of the Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong Reigns, Art Gallery, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1995, no. 68.

A very similar jar and cover was sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 31 May 2010, lot 2018; and another in our New York rooms, 26 March 2003, lot 277.