QIANLONG SEAL MARK AND OF THE PERIOD (1736-1795)

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.