An early Kangxi jar

Its body is made of very fine very pale greenish-white clay (the so-called sticky rice body); its glaze is unctuous and very pale greenish and milky, both typical of early Kangxi period.  Painted in grayish cobalt blue a phoenix descending from the sky and a Chi-lin (auspicious animal) in a garden with a banana tree, rocks and low fence.  Both the blue and the motif are very typical for early Kangxi period (1660s AD).  The neck and a circular band at top of the shoulder are unglazed and finely ground, same for the lower rim of the cover, for forming better seal with the cover to keep aroma inside.  The jar was used for keeping dried foods.  This unique tight fit features belongs to early Kangxi, and was abandoned thereafter due to the cost of excessive labor of grinding.  The base is unglazed with a large pale orange red patch formed during firing (kiln-red) that cover 60% of the area, and with many fine concentric circles.  Both kiln red and concentric circles are typical for late Ming and early Qing porcelain.  The intersection line between the glaze and the clay body at the outer wall around the foot is very sharply cut, another unique feature of Kangxi porcelain wares.  Due to age, a long crack line has formed.

Size: 7 in. (17.78 cm.) Dia x 8 in. (20.32 cm.) H 

Provenance:  From Dr. Robert I-San Lin, a senior Chinese artwork appraiser, whose grandfather was a major Chinese antique dealer in early 1900s. (Dr. Linâs bio, in Journal of Authentication of Artworks, 2015, is available on request).   Brought to California in 1960s

http://www.karburys.com/lotdetail/1017

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