A pair of cobalt and gilt ground jars and covers


Late Qing dynastyThe walls of each thickly potted jar painted with a deep cobalt wash of slightly uneven color, and adorned with gilt flower and leaf scrolls, surrounding two large quatrefoil reserves filled with opposing mirror-image battle scenes rendered in famille-rose enamels, separated by smaller shaped reserves of martial figures and a further reserve of a scholar fighting a fire in his study; the domed covers painted en suite with flowers in quatrefoil reserves and most surfaces covered with a clear glaze (one base cracked, foot area polished; both covers repaired and retouched).17 1/4in (44cm) high