SHUNZHI PERIOD (1644-1661)

The present vase is very unusual for the charming Buddhist lion which forms the finial of the cover. Although such Buddhist-lion-form finials became very popular in the 18th century, they were also made in the 17th century: see, for example, a hexagonal vessel and cover with a Buddhist-lion-form finial, dated to the Tianqi-Chongzhen periods (c. 1620-1644), illustrated by J. Harrison-Hall, Ming Ceramics in the British Museum, London, 2005, p. 404, no. 12:130.