A rare 'Longquan' celadon-glazed ‘Hundred Rib' jar and cover, Yuan dynasty

Sotheby's Hong Kong, 1st November 1994, lot 12.

The Dexingshuwu Collection.

Sotheby's New York, 18th March 2008, lot 99.

Unlike other guan jars of the period, molded or glazed with complex figural or floral scenes, the present jar is decorated with the enthralling ‘hundred rib’ design. Highlighting the exceptional quality of this glaze as it pools and thins over the delicate ribs, the present design remains captivating with a remarkable sense of vitality even seven centuries on.

Hundred rib jars of this form and size appear to have been particularly treasured as objects of trade along the Silk Road and are preserved in some of the world’s most important collections. Compare a closely related jar dedicated to the Ardabil Shrine in 1611, in John Alexander Pope, Chinese Porcelains from the Ardebil Shrine, Washington, 1956, pl. 130; another from the Ottoman court collection in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics in the Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul, London, 1986, pl. 213; a third from the collection of the Shomyoji Temple, Yokohama, in Tōji taikei [Complete series of ceramics], vol. 36: Seiji [Celadon], Tokyo, 1978, pl. 24; and a fourth recovered from the Sinan Wreck off the coast of Korea (ca. 1323), illustrated in Relics Salvaged from the Seabed Off Sinan, Materials I, Seoul, 1985, pl. 30, figs 37a and 37b, together with another jar of this type lacking its cover, pl. 31, fig. 38.

Compare also a jar and cover of similar size, from the Hardy Collection, sold at Christie's New York, 21st September 1995, lot 121; another sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 5th and 6th November 1999, lot 1088; and a third at Christie’s Hong Kong, 27th November 2013, lot 3290.