China. Of baluster form, finely painted in shades of cobalt blue and white with two lobed panels depicting a scholar accompanied by his attendants in a rocky landscape, surrounded by lotus scroll, above a band of upright plantain leaves and lotus scroll designs to the foot and below a band of prunus blossoms against an ice-cracked ground framed by key-fret borders at the shoulder, the neck with stylized lotus blossoms borne on leafy scrolling vines, the domed cover similarly decorated, encircled by further prunus and cracked-ice to the broad rim and topped by a finial in the form of a Buddhist lion holding a brocade ball.

Provenance: From the collection of Vice-Admiral Reginald Vesey Holt, and thence by descent. Vice-Admiral Reginald Vesey Holt, CB, DSO, MVO (1884-1957) was an officer in the Royal Navy. He commanded a considerable number of destroyers and torpedo craft during World War I. Holt was stationed in China on the Yangtse River during World War II. He was promoted to the rank of Vice-Admiral on 15 December, 1939. He was placed on the Retired List at his own request on 4 May, 1940.
Condition: Very good condition with some old wear and firing irregularities, minor fritting to the rim of the cover and mouth.

Weight: 2,978 g
Dimension: Height 43 cm

Literature comparison:
Compare a related blue and white baluster jar with a Buddhist lion finial, dated to the early 18th century, in the collection of the in the National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, accession number F2004.37.1a-c.