A PAIR OF QINGBAI-GLAZED URNS AND COVER WITH APPLIED DECORATIONChina, Southern Song dynasty31 cm eachRising on a circular foot, the globular shape of the body interrupted by the inclined shoulder with the lower side underlined by a high relief cord band, the cylindrical neck rising to a wide mouth, the domed cover with a bird-shaped handle, a rich applied decoration of stylized animals between the shoulder and the neck, both covered with a light greenish glaze, the body with overglaze brown stems.Provenance: ambassador Francesco Rausi.A pair of this kind of jars could be used in tombs, containing offerings to the dead. For a similar urn in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, see He Li, Chinese Ceramics. The New Standard Guide, San Francisco 1996, n. 299.