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Lot Essay
Extremely Rare Yuan Dynasty Octagonal Daoist Figure Jar
Rosemary Scott, Independent Scholar
This jar is remarkable not only for the choice and quality of its decoration, but for its rare form. Sturdily potted large porcelain jars became popular in the Yuan period and it seems likely, judging from the assemblages depicted in surviving contemporary tomb murals, that wine was initially transported to a banqueting venue in such large lidded jars. An amount of the liquid might then be decanted into a large basin, from which it was further decanted into a yuchunping pear-shaped vase for serving. See for example, a mural in a tomb belonging to Zhang Andabuhua and his wife Li Yunxian, found in Dongercun, Puchengxian, Shaanxi province, and dated to the 6th year of Zhiyuan (1269), which depicts the occupants of the tomb, accompanied by servants. The drinking accoutrements displayed on the tables behind them include a large lidded jar (illustrated by Joyce Denney, ‘Mongol Dress in the thirteenth and fourteenth Centuries’, in The World of Khubilai Khan – Chinese Art in the Yuan Dynasty, New York, 2010, p. 83, fig. 115). Additionally, one of a group of stone panels discovered at Shexian, Anhui province, which illustrate the festivities associated with the celebration of family members who had been awarded official academic degrees in the 2nd year of the Yuantong reign (元統1334) of Toghon Temür, depicts an inn with a large lidded jar prominently placed on a table behind the revellers (iIllustrated by Zhixin Jason Sun, ‘Dadu: Great Capital of the Yuan Dynasty’ in The World of Khubilai Khan – Chinese Art in the Yuan Dynasty, New York, 2010, p. 56, fig. 72).
There are two primary types of large Yuan blue and white porcelain jar - those with low straight necks and no masks or handles on the shoulder, and those with slightly taller necks, and two lion-head masks, from which are suspended bronze ring handles. An example of the latter – with both lid and bronze rings intact - was excavated from a hoard at Gao’an in Jiangxi province in 1980 (see Splendors in Smalt – Art of Yuan Blue-and-white Porcelain, Shanghai, 2012, pp. 178-9, no. 58). Octagonal versions of this form, such as the current jar, are extremely rare, but an example (no longer retaining its lid or bronze rings) is in the collection of the Liaoning Provincial Museum in Shenyang (see Blue and White of the Yuan, Capital Museum, Beijing, 2009, pp. 54-5). Like the current jar, the Liaoning octagonal example has a lozenge band around the mouth, botanical sprays in panels around the neck and shoulders, while the main decoration is of ogival panels surrounded by knobbed classic scrolls. In the case of the Liaoning jar, the ogival panels contain images of ducks on a lotus pond, and pine, prunus and bamboo, in separate panels. On the current jar, however, the ogival panels on those sides of the vessel which bear mask handles contain pine, prunus and bamboo - appearing together as the Three Friends of Winter, while a depiction of Xiwangmu, Queen Mother of the West, appears in two panels – one on either side of the jar, each flanked by panels depicting two of the Eight Daoist Immortals.
Octagonal vessels provided a considerably greater challenge to the potter than those forms which could be straightforwardly thrown on the wheel, and the greater the size of the porcelain vessel, the greater the challenge. A small number of rare prestigious octagonal ceramic vessels from the Tang dynasty (618-907) are known – for example the mise ware octagonal vases unearthed from the crypt of the Famensi pagoda (see Wang Qing-zheng (ed.), 越窑, 秘色瓷 Yue Ware Miseci Porcelain, Shanghai, 1996, plates 1-2). Facetted shapes continued to be very rare amongst the ceramics of the Song (960-1279) and Jin (1115-1234) dynasties, but do appear occasionally amongst Longquan wares - for example the octagonal Northern Song early Longquan celadon ewer in the collection of the Zhejiang Provincial Museum (illustrated in Longquan yao qingci, 龍泉窰青瓷Celadons from Longquan Kilns, Taipei, 1998, p. 87, no. 46), and a wide-necked hexagonal pear-shaped vase in the collection of the Lushui Museum dating to the Southern Song period (illustrated ibid., p. 152, no. 119). However, in the Yuan period (1279-1368), although still rare, octagonal vessels appeared slightly more frequently among high status vessels - both blue and white porcelains from Jingdezhen and celadon glazed vessels from the Longquan kilns. Predominantly, these octagonal forms were closed forms - meiping vases, double-gourd vases, pear-shaped vases and ewers, and, rarest of all, large jars like the current example, although some open wares, such as bowls and stem bowls, have also been found.
The growing popularity of facetted forms among vessels made for the Yuan elite may be seen either as a reflection of a contemporary interest in metalwork from west of China's borders - Iran, Syria and Mamluk Egypt, as has been suggested by several scholars (see M. Medley, Metalwork and Chinese Ceramics, Percival David Foundation Monograph Series No. 2, London, 1972, p. 14), or as a revival of an interest in Tang dynasty metalwork. A number of Tang precious metal vessels were made in facetted form, probably as a result of cultural contact with Western and Central Asia. Among the most famous of these are the octagonal gold cups found in the cargo of the Belitong wreck and in the Hejiacun hoard (discussed by Rosemary Scott in 'A Remarkable Tang Dynasty Cargo', Transactions of the Oriental Ceramic Society, vol. 67, 2002-2003, pp. 20-22).
A small number of celadon glazed Longquan octagonal meiping are known in international collections, and, in view of the decorative theme on the current blue and white jar, it is interesting to note that several of the Longquan octagonal meiping have Daoist immortals depicted in their relief decoration. One such vase with moulded unglazed decorative panels depicting the Eight Daoist Immortals is in the Philadelphia Museum of Art (illustrated by Y. Mino & K. Tsiang, Ice and Green Clouds: Traditions of Chinese Celadon, Indianapolis, 1986, pp. 202-3, No. 82), while another similar vase, formerly in the Chingwah Lee (1901-1980) Collection, San Francisco, and the Jack Chia Collection, Singapore, was sold by Christie’s New York, 23 September, 2022, lot 927.
The Eight Daoist Immortals 八仙comprise Li Tieguai 李鐵拐 (Iron Crutch Li), Zhongli Quan 鍾離權, Lü Dongbin 呂洞賓, Zhang Guolao 張果老, Han Xiangzi 韓湘子, Cao Guoqiu 曹國舅, Lan Caihe藍采和, and He Xian’gu 何仙姑, most of whom were traditionally believed to have lived in the Tang dynasty. These figures were known and venerated in the Song dynasty, and appear as a recognisable group in northern China in the Jin dynasty. The emergence of the Eight Immortals as a group accompanied the spread of the Quanzhen 全眞 (Complete Realization) sect of Daoism in China during the Jin and succeeding Yuan dynasty.
In the Yuan period, the Eight Daoist Immortals, as well as the Queen Mother of the West, began to appear more regularly in paintings and, occasionally, in the decorative arts. The Queen Mother of the West is, for example, depicted accompanied by an attendant carrying a tray of peaches on a hanging scroll entitled 獻壽圖 Blessings for Long Life in the collection of the Palace Museum, Taipei. Among the most famous Yuan paintings which include Xiwangmu and the Eight Daoist Immortals are murals in the Daoist temple known as Yongle Gong (永樂宮Palace of Eternal Joy) built near the banks of the Yellow River in Shanxi (and moved 15 miles north, piece by piece between 1958 and 1966, to Ruicheng xian 芮城縣 in southern Shanxi to save it being flooded by the new Sanmenxia Dam 三門峽 project). The temple was built in honour of a member of the Eight Immortals group, Lü Dongbin, who was believed to have been born nearby. The Epiphany of Lü Dongbin is a major subject of the murals on the east, north and west walls of the Chunyang dian (純陽殿Hall of Purified Yang) (see 永樂宮壁畫 Murals of the Palace of Yongle, Beijing, 2008, pp. 182-259). Notably, in the Chunyang dian, on the west side of the north wall, is a particularly fine depiction of Lü Dongbin seated in conversation with Zhongli Quan (see 永樂宮壁畫 Murals of the Palace of Yongle, op. cit., pp 260-1). Also in the Chunyang dian is the famous painting of the Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea (illustrated Murals of the Palace of Yongle, op. cit., pp. 262-5).
There are also depictions of the Queen Mother of the West, as well as Jade Maidens, in the Yongle Gong. It is particularly notable that one depiction of Xiwangmu on the west wall of the Sanqing Hall (Three Purities Hall), shows her wearing a headdress that is strikingly similar to that worn by Xiwangmu in one of the depictions on the jar (showing her under a pine tree). Indeed, the headdress and the robes worn by both figures are very similar. The figure in the mural is part of a scene showing deities on a pilgrimage, and Xiwangmu, who is seated on an elaborate throne, can be identified by the trigram kun, which appears on the front of her headdress (illustrated Murals of the Palace of Yongle, op. cit., pp. 130 and 133). A headdress similar to that worn by the other female deity on the jar, who stands in a hall with chequered floor, can be seen on a Jade Maiden shown seated on a throne in the mural on the west side of the north wall of the Sanqing Hall of the Yongle Gong, receiving the Master of Transmitting Sutras (see 永樂宮壁畫 Murals of the Palace of Yongle, op. cit., p. 88).
While such fine murals and paintings on silk or paper were clearly important and influential, it is questionable whether such influence would have passed directly to the ceramic decorators. It is more likely that the direct source for the ceramic decorators at the Jingdezhen kilns would have been illustrations in printed books. The distinctive headdress seen on Xiwangmu under a pine tree on the current jar and also in a depiction of Xiwangmu in one of the Yongle Gong murals – discussed above, is additionally seen in a woodblock printed illustration of ‘Empress Lü’s Sacrifice to the King of Han’ 呂后祭漢圖, from Xinkan Quanxiang Pinghua wuzhong 新刊全相平話 五種 (illustrated by Lu Minghua, ‘A General Study on Yuan Blue-and-white Porcelain’, Splendors in Smalt – Art of Yuan Blue-and-white Porcelain, Shanghai, 2012, p. 35, fig. 8). It is noteworthy that the robes of Empress Lü in the book illustration are also very similar to those of the figure on the current jar.
Yuan dynasty dramas such as 呂洞賓三醉岳陽樓 (Lü Dongbin’s Three Drunken Visits to Yueyang Tower), and 呂洞賓三度城南柳 (Lü Dongbin Three Visits to the Willow South of the City) helped to bring the Eight Immortals to prominence. There were even plays about players who took the parts of Daoist immortals, such as Lan Caihe and Zhongli Quan (see J.I. Crump, Chinese Theater in the Days of Kublai Khan, Ann Arbor, 1990, pp. 47-60). Xiwangmu was also the subject of dramas as early as the Southern Song dynasty, such as 宴瑶池爨 (Feast at the Jade Pool), while in the Yuan period she appeared in 瑤池會 (Gathering at the Jade Pool), 蟠桃會 (The Peach Gathering), and 王母祝壽 (Paying Birthday Tribute to the Queen Mother). The theatre was increasingly popular in the Yuan period and so-called 雜劇 zaju drama developed and became a very prevalent art form at the time. Each zaju drama was devoted to a single story, which was told through songs, poetic dialogue, dance and stage action – all of which was performed with musical accompaniment. Stories relating to some of these dramas were also found in 平話pinghua (such as that illustrated by Lu Minghua), which were a colloquial literary form, probably derived from the scripts of storytellers, and were a sort of precursor of the Chinese novel. They were mainly based on historical events, myths, and folk tales. It is the woodblock printed illustrations from these pinghua which often seem to have provided the inspiration for the designs on Yuan ‘figure’ jars, as has been discussed by both Lu ~Minghua in ‘A General Study on Yuan Blue-and-white Porcelain’, Splendors in Smalt – Art of Yuan Blue-and-white Porcelain, op. cit., and also 周麗麗Zhou Lili in ‘A Study on Yuan Blue-and-white Porcelain with Dramatic Scenes’, International Symposium on Yuan Blue-and-white Porcelain – Shanghai 2012, Shanghai Museum, pp. 81-106. That the direct source of inspiration for the decoration on the jar came from printed illustrations is also suggested by the chequered floor on which one figure stands. A similar chequered floor appears on a narrative Yuan jar decorated with the story ‘Meng Yuemei writes her Regrets in the Pavilion of Fragrant Brocades’ 孟月梅 寫恨錦香亭 Meng Yuemei xie hen Jinxiang Ting, which was sold from the British Rail Pension Fund in 1989. Chequered floors were a popular device in Yuan printed illustrations as can be seen in ‘Emperor Gaozu ascending to Heaven and establishing Emperor Hu’ from Xinkan Quanxiang Pinghua wuzhong 新刊全相平話 五種 (illustrated by Lu Minghua, ‘A General Study on Yuan Blue-and-white Porcelain’, op. cit., fig. 9), and in an illustration to volume 6 of the Yuan Zhishun edition of Shilin Guangji (see 楊)俊豔Yang Junyan, ‘Exploration on Yuan Blue-and-white Flat Base Dish’, International Symposium on Yuan Blue-and-white Porcelain – Shanghai 2012, op. cit., p. 184, fig. 17), and several others.
Rosemary Scott, Independent Scholar
This jar is remarkable not only for the choice and quality of its decoration, but for its rare form. Sturdily potted large porcelain jars became popular in the Yuan period and it seems likely, judging from the assemblages depicted in surviving contemporary tomb murals, that wine was initially transported to a banqueting venue in such large lidded jars. An amount of the liquid might then be decanted into a large basin, from which it was further decanted into a yuchunping pear-shaped vase for serving. See for example, a mural in a tomb belonging to Zhang Andabuhua and his wife Li Yunxian, found in Dongercun, Puchengxian, Shaanxi province, and dated to the 6th year of Zhiyuan (1269), which depicts the occupants of the tomb, accompanied by servants. The drinking accoutrements displayed on the tables behind them include a large lidded jar (illustrated by Joyce Denney, ‘Mongol Dress in the thirteenth and fourteenth Centuries’, in The World of Khubilai Khan – Chinese Art in the Yuan Dynasty, New York, 2010, p. 83, fig. 115). Additionally, one of a group of stone panels discovered at Shexian, Anhui province, which illustrate the festivities associated with the celebration of family members who had been awarded official academic degrees in the 2nd year of the Yuantong reign (元統1334) of Toghon Temür, depicts an inn with a large lidded jar prominently placed on a table behind the revellers (iIllustrated by Zhixin Jason Sun, ‘Dadu: Great Capital of the Yuan Dynasty’ in The World of Khubilai Khan – Chinese Art in the Yuan Dynasty, New York, 2010, p. 56, fig. 72).
There are two primary types of large Yuan blue and white porcelain jar - those with low straight necks and no masks or handles on the shoulder, and those with slightly taller necks, and two lion-head masks, from which are suspended bronze ring handles. An example of the latter – with both lid and bronze rings intact - was excavated from a hoard at Gao’an in Jiangxi province in 1980 (see Splendors in Smalt – Art of Yuan Blue-and-white Porcelain, Shanghai, 2012, pp. 178-9, no. 58). Octagonal versions of this form, such as the current jar, are extremely rare, but an example (no longer retaining its lid or bronze rings) is in the collection of the Liaoning Provincial Museum in Shenyang (see Blue and White of the Yuan, Capital Museum, Beijing, 2009, pp. 54-5). Like the current jar, the Liaoning octagonal example has a lozenge band around the mouth, botanical sprays in panels around the neck and shoulders, while the main decoration is of ogival panels surrounded by knobbed classic scrolls. In the case of the Liaoning jar, the ogival panels contain images of ducks on a lotus pond, and pine, prunus and bamboo, in separate panels. On the current jar, however, the ogival panels on those sides of the vessel which bear mask handles contain pine, prunus and bamboo - appearing together as the Three Friends of Winter, while a depiction of Xiwangmu, Queen Mother of the West, appears in two panels – one on either side of the jar, each flanked by panels depicting two of the Eight Daoist Immortals.
Octagonal vessels provided a considerably greater challenge to the potter than those forms which could be straightforwardly thrown on the wheel, and the greater the size of the porcelain vessel, the greater the challenge. A small number of rare prestigious octagonal ceramic vessels from the Tang dynasty (618-907) are known – for example the mise ware octagonal vases unearthed from the crypt of the Famensi pagoda (see Wang Qing-zheng (ed.), 越窑, 秘色瓷 Yue Ware Miseci Porcelain, Shanghai, 1996, plates 1-2). Facetted shapes continued to be very rare amongst the ceramics of the Song (960-1279) and Jin (1115-1234) dynasties, but do appear occasionally amongst Longquan wares - for example the octagonal Northern Song early Longquan celadon ewer in the collection of the Zhejiang Provincial Museum (illustrated in Longquan yao qingci, 龍泉窰青瓷Celadons from Longquan Kilns, Taipei, 1998, p. 87, no. 46), and a wide-necked hexagonal pear-shaped vase in the collection of the Lushui Museum dating to the Southern Song period (illustrated ibid., p. 152, no. 119). However, in the Yuan period (1279-1368), although still rare, octagonal vessels appeared slightly more frequently among high status vessels - both blue and white porcelains from Jingdezhen and celadon glazed vessels from the Longquan kilns. Predominantly, these octagonal forms were closed forms - meiping vases, double-gourd vases, pear-shaped vases and ewers, and, rarest of all, large jars like the current example, although some open wares, such as bowls and stem bowls, have also been found.
The growing popularity of facetted forms among vessels made for the Yuan elite may be seen either as a reflection of a contemporary interest in metalwork from west of China's borders - Iran, Syria and Mamluk Egypt, as has been suggested by several scholars (see M. Medley, Metalwork and Chinese Ceramics, Percival David Foundation Monograph Series No. 2, London, 1972, p. 14), or as a revival of an interest in Tang dynasty metalwork. A number of Tang precious metal vessels were made in facetted form, probably as a result of cultural contact with Western and Central Asia. Among the most famous of these are the octagonal gold cups found in the cargo of the Belitong wreck and in the Hejiacun hoard (discussed by Rosemary Scott in 'A Remarkable Tang Dynasty Cargo', Transactions of the Oriental Ceramic Society, vol. 67, 2002-2003, pp. 20-22).
A small number of celadon glazed Longquan octagonal meiping are known in international collections, and, in view of the decorative theme on the current blue and white jar, it is interesting to note that several of the Longquan octagonal meiping have Daoist immortals depicted in their relief decoration. One such vase with moulded unglazed decorative panels depicting the Eight Daoist Immortals is in the Philadelphia Museum of Art (illustrated by Y. Mino & K. Tsiang, Ice and Green Clouds: Traditions of Chinese Celadon, Indianapolis, 1986, pp. 202-3, No. 82), while another similar vase, formerly in the Chingwah Lee (1901-1980) Collection, San Francisco, and the Jack Chia Collection, Singapore, was sold by Christie’s New York, 23 September, 2022, lot 927.
The Eight Daoist Immortals 八仙comprise Li Tieguai 李鐵拐 (Iron Crutch Li), Zhongli Quan 鍾離權, Lü Dongbin 呂洞賓, Zhang Guolao 張果老, Han Xiangzi 韓湘子, Cao Guoqiu 曹國舅, Lan Caihe藍采和, and He Xian’gu 何仙姑, most of whom were traditionally believed to have lived in the Tang dynasty. These figures were known and venerated in the Song dynasty, and appear as a recognisable group in northern China in the Jin dynasty. The emergence of the Eight Immortals as a group accompanied the spread of the Quanzhen 全眞 (Complete Realization) sect of Daoism in China during the Jin and succeeding Yuan dynasty.
In the Yuan period, the Eight Daoist Immortals, as well as the Queen Mother of the West, began to appear more regularly in paintings and, occasionally, in the decorative arts. The Queen Mother of the West is, for example, depicted accompanied by an attendant carrying a tray of peaches on a hanging scroll entitled 獻壽圖 Blessings for Long Life in the collection of the Palace Museum, Taipei. Among the most famous Yuan paintings which include Xiwangmu and the Eight Daoist Immortals are murals in the Daoist temple known as Yongle Gong (永樂宮Palace of Eternal Joy) built near the banks of the Yellow River in Shanxi (and moved 15 miles north, piece by piece between 1958 and 1966, to Ruicheng xian 芮城縣 in southern Shanxi to save it being flooded by the new Sanmenxia Dam 三門峽 project). The temple was built in honour of a member of the Eight Immortals group, Lü Dongbin, who was believed to have been born nearby. The Epiphany of Lü Dongbin is a major subject of the murals on the east, north and west walls of the Chunyang dian (純陽殿Hall of Purified Yang) (see 永樂宮壁畫 Murals of the Palace of Yongle, Beijing, 2008, pp. 182-259). Notably, in the Chunyang dian, on the west side of the north wall, is a particularly fine depiction of Lü Dongbin seated in conversation with Zhongli Quan (see 永樂宮壁畫 Murals of the Palace of Yongle, op. cit., pp 260-1). Also in the Chunyang dian is the famous painting of the Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea (illustrated Murals of the Palace of Yongle, op. cit., pp. 262-5).
There are also depictions of the Queen Mother of the West, as well as Jade Maidens, in the Yongle Gong. It is particularly notable that one depiction of Xiwangmu on the west wall of the Sanqing Hall (Three Purities Hall), shows her wearing a headdress that is strikingly similar to that worn by Xiwangmu in one of the depictions on the jar (showing her under a pine tree). Indeed, the headdress and the robes worn by both figures are very similar. The figure in the mural is part of a scene showing deities on a pilgrimage, and Xiwangmu, who is seated on an elaborate throne, can be identified by the trigram kun, which appears on the front of her headdress (illustrated Murals of the Palace of Yongle, op. cit., pp. 130 and 133). A headdress similar to that worn by the other female deity on the jar, who stands in a hall with chequered floor, can be seen on a Jade Maiden shown seated on a throne in the mural on the west side of the north wall of the Sanqing Hall of the Yongle Gong, receiving the Master of Transmitting Sutras (see 永樂宮壁畫 Murals of the Palace of Yongle, op. cit., p. 88).
While such fine murals and paintings on silk or paper were clearly important and influential, it is questionable whether such influence would have passed directly to the ceramic decorators. It is more likely that the direct source for the ceramic decorators at the Jingdezhen kilns would have been illustrations in printed books. The distinctive headdress seen on Xiwangmu under a pine tree on the current jar and also in a depiction of Xiwangmu in one of the Yongle Gong murals – discussed above, is additionally seen in a woodblock printed illustration of ‘Empress Lü’s Sacrifice to the King of Han’ 呂后祭漢圖, from Xinkan Quanxiang Pinghua wuzhong 新刊全相平話 五種 (illustrated by Lu Minghua, ‘A General Study on Yuan Blue-and-white Porcelain’, Splendors in Smalt – Art of Yuan Blue-and-white Porcelain, Shanghai, 2012, p. 35, fig. 8). It is noteworthy that the robes of Empress Lü in the book illustration are also very similar to those of the figure on the current jar.
Yuan dynasty dramas such as 呂洞賓三醉岳陽樓 (Lü Dongbin’s Three Drunken Visits to Yueyang Tower), and 呂洞賓三度城南柳 (Lü Dongbin Three Visits to the Willow South of the City) helped to bring the Eight Immortals to prominence. There were even plays about players who took the parts of Daoist immortals, such as Lan Caihe and Zhongli Quan (see J.I. Crump, Chinese Theater in the Days of Kublai Khan, Ann Arbor, 1990, pp. 47-60). Xiwangmu was also the subject of dramas as early as the Southern Song dynasty, such as 宴瑶池爨 (Feast at the Jade Pool), while in the Yuan period she appeared in 瑤池會 (Gathering at the Jade Pool), 蟠桃會 (The Peach Gathering), and 王母祝壽 (Paying Birthday Tribute to the Queen Mother). The theatre was increasingly popular in the Yuan period and so-called 雜劇 zaju drama developed and became a very prevalent art form at the time. Each zaju drama was devoted to a single story, which was told through songs, poetic dialogue, dance and stage action – all of which was performed with musical accompaniment. Stories relating to some of these dramas were also found in 平話pinghua (such as that illustrated by Lu Minghua), which were a colloquial literary form, probably derived from the scripts of storytellers, and were a sort of precursor of the Chinese novel. They were mainly based on historical events, myths, and folk tales. It is the woodblock printed illustrations from these pinghua which often seem to have provided the inspiration for the designs on Yuan ‘figure’ jars, as has been discussed by both Lu ~Minghua in ‘A General Study on Yuan Blue-and-white Porcelain’, Splendors in Smalt – Art of Yuan Blue-and-white Porcelain, op. cit., and also 周麗麗Zhou Lili in ‘A Study on Yuan Blue-and-white Porcelain with Dramatic Scenes’, International Symposium on Yuan Blue-and-white Porcelain – Shanghai 2012, Shanghai Museum, pp. 81-106. That the direct source of inspiration for the decoration on the jar came from printed illustrations is also suggested by the chequered floor on which one figure stands. A similar chequered floor appears on a narrative Yuan jar decorated with the story ‘Meng Yuemei writes her Regrets in the Pavilion of Fragrant Brocades’ 孟月梅 寫恨錦香亭 Meng Yuemei xie hen Jinxiang Ting, which was sold from the British Rail Pension Fund in 1989. Chequered floors were a popular device in Yuan printed illustrations as can be seen in ‘Emperor Gaozu ascending to Heaven and establishing Emperor Hu’ from Xinkan Quanxiang Pinghua wuzhong 新刊全相平話 五種 (illustrated by Lu Minghua, ‘A General Study on Yuan Blue-and-white Porcelain’, op. cit., fig. 9), and in an illustration to volume 6 of the Yuan Zhishun edition of Shilin Guangji (see 楊)俊豔Yang Junyan, ‘Exploration on Yuan Blue-and-white Flat Base Dish’, International Symposium on Yuan Blue-and-white Porcelain – Shanghai 2012, op. cit., p. 184, fig. 17), and several others.