A RARE CARVED LONGQUAN CELADON VASE AND COVER, China, Five dynasties/Northern Song dynasty, the vase is sturdily potted with an ovoid body resting on a tall foot. The straight neck is flanked by a pair of small loop handles, surmounted by a grooved mouth below a galleried rim. The body is carved and combed with peonies and floral sprig. The domed cover is carved with double lotus petals surmounted by a finial in the form of a lotus pod. They are covered with a crackled olive-green glaze with the exception of the base of the vase - Provenance: Old South German private collection, assembled between 1979 and 1992, bought 7.4.1982 from Anne Roselt in Cologne, published in 'Weltkunst', 15th May 1982 - The covered vase with galleried mouth is a typical form of Northern Song Longquan ware. The form has gradually changed from a tall tapering body with long neck in the early Northern Song dynasty to an ovoid body with shorter neck in the late Northern Song dynasty. Meanwhile, the glaze colour developed more olive tone and the carved decoration was often more robust. A similar vase lacking the cover and the loop handles was excavated from a tomb dated to the Yuanfeng reign (1078-1085), illustrated in Zhu Boqian, Longquanyao qingci (Celadons from Longquan Kilns), Taipei, 1998, p. 104, no. 64. Another vase of similar form but lacking the loop handles is in the Qingyuan County Cultural Relics Bureau, illustrated in Zhongguo Longquan qingci (Longquan Celadon of China), Hangzhou, 1998, p. 45. For an earlier example with loop handles and a lotus-like cover but decorated with incised floral patterns, see ibid., p. 46. One usage of Longquan covered vases was revealed by the inscription on one example from the Sir Percival David Collection, London, illustrated by G. St. G. M. Gompertz, Chinese Celadon Wares, London, 1958, fig. 22. Hence, covered jars of the current type could be used as funerary jars containing offerings such as wine and grains. This practice was a local custom in Southern Zhejiang and Northern Fujian province - Small re-stuck piece at the rim of the cover, the handle of the cover with very small chip, the glaze partly slightly corroded Seltene Longquan-Deckelvase mit olivgrüner Glasur und Päonienblüten CHINA, Zhejiang, Fünf Dynastien/frühe Song-Dynastie H. 32,5 cm Provenienz: Aus einer alten süddeutschen Privatsammlung, zwischen 1979 und 1992 gesammelt, erworben bei Anne Roselt am 7.4.1982, veröffentlicht in 'Weltkunst', 15.05.1982 - Deckelrand mit kleinem geklebtem Ausbruch, Deckelknauf mit kleiner Bestoßung, Glasur partiell korodiert