882 - Blue-and-white lidded jar with a four-pass shape, dragon decoration, and Longqing mark

Blue-and-white lidded jar with a four-pass shape, dragon decoration, and Longqing mark China, probably Qing Dynasty. Porcelain, painted in underglaze blue. Dimensions: approx. 14.5 × 14.5 × 8 cm. On the underside, a six-character Longqing mark from the Ming Dynasty in underglaze blue within a double circle. With a sticker on the bottom. Signs of age and wear. In good condition. - Provenance: From a German private collection. The four-pass-shaped casket has a flat, rounded shape and is fitted with a precisely shaped lid. The lid is painted in a rich underglaze cobalt blue and depicts a pair of five-clawed dragons shown in frontal view, emerging from swirling clouds and flanking a flaming pearl. The side walls are decorated with dragons moving among swirling clouds and soaring over waves crashing against rocky peaks. The rim of the lid is edged with a key-fret pattern. The interior is fully glazed. Caskets of this type were produced in a wide variety of forms during the Ming Dynasty. While some specialized examples, such as the elongated rectangular boxes for storing fans, are preserved today at the Changshu Museum in Jiangsu Province, the exact function of this particular form remains uncertain. It has been suggested that boxes of this shape served as luxurious containers for gifts of confectionery, sweets, or other delicacies presented at court or on ceremonial occasions.