A BLUE-GLAZED ALTAR VESSEL AND COVER, dou, the shallow cylindrical body raised on a waisted stem with a horizontal rib at the mid-section, moulded with archaistic geometrical patterns, the domed cover decorated with ware-pattern and surmounted by an openwork rope-twist finial, all under rich deep blue glaze, moulded Qianlong sealmark and of the period

A BLUE-GLAZED ALTAR VESSEL AND COVER, dou, the shallow cylindrical body raised on a waisted stem with a horizontal rib at the mid-section, moulded with archaistic geometrical patterns, the domed cover decorated with ware-pattern and surmounted by an openwork rope-twist finial, all under rich deep blue glaze, moulded Qianlong sealmark and of the period
25 cm. high

A similar altar vessel, made for use at the Temple of the Earth in Beijing and now in the Victoria and Albert Museum is illustrated by Rose Kerr, Chinese Ceramics, pl. 47