Extraordinary, Chinese 12th Century Yuan Dynasty Period, blue and white dragon Meiping jar. The finest porcelain shaped into a traditional Meiping form, thick potted, with a narrow base, wide body, slender neck easing to form narrow opening, with emerging slight ring line mouth rim, raised on round flat foot base. All reserved hand painted ornamentations are rendered in clean white underglaze base color which contrast against the cobalt blue fine color. Blue and white porcelain in Chinese it is called Qing Hua Ci. It is the most important variety of China’s porcelain. It was originated in the Yuan Dynasty. Its color does not easily fade and durability is longer. It used cobaltous oxide as the colorant. Patterns were directly painted onto the inner body and burnt after glaze was applied on it. The main body delicately fine depicted with snarling huge imperial five claws dragon careening through cumulus clouds above thrashing Li-shui waves in a cobalt blue fine color dragon squama rounded the bowl to chasing flaming pearl amidst flames. The shoulder adorned with flowers blooms interspersed with scrolling tendril and foliage. The neck and the lower belly decorated with scrolling interlocking tendril and geometric petals with auspicious ornament on the foot rim. Dragon is the symbol of the Emperor, the Son of Heaven, eternity, Yang and Yin, male vigor and fecundity, the Li-shui wave pattern which is known to be the abode of dragons. The dragon is also the most important of the four super natural creatures in Chinese mythology, ranked with the Phoenix, the Qilin, and the Tortoise. The dragon is also the symbol of the month March, of Spring and of rebirth and fertility for it brings the rain bearing clouds of spring. When shown with the heavenly pearl, sometimes ball, it represents thunder and the storm. Emblem of vigilance and safety, and frequently associated with the idea of joy. The underside unglazed, revealed the pale-creme ground revealed and dark grayish brown spotted firing marks and edge-cut foot rim. The glaze is seamless and gives off a beautiful luster, with the colors maintaining excellent vibrancy. This inadvertently gave texture, energy, and shading to the design. The porcelain conformed all required specimen to be high valued Chinese porcelain wares, with finest material, the whiteness, the glaze, and the carving. Without overlap the outlines of the design, well carved, clear, subtle, distinct, and the shape is uniformly proportioned. The Under-base bears a reign mark, a six underglaze blue script characters reign mark, enclosed within double square frame borders, Made In The Years of Qianlong Reign Period of The Great Qing Dynasty.Height:17.13 inWidth: 9.5 inDepth: 9.5 in