A BLUE AND WHITE PORCELAIN VASE AND COVER, JIAJING, JADE HALL MARK China, 1522-1566. Yu Tang Jia Qi four-character mark within a double circle to base. Elegantly potted baluster shape with gently curving sides, painted in deep cobalt blue with six roundels enclosing peony, camellia, lotus, chrysanthemum and pomegranate. Provenance: Acquired by W. R. Hodgson in Tokyo in the early 1950s on the advice of Professor Fujio Koyama of the Tokyo National Museum. Thence by descent within the family. Lieutenant Colonel William Roy Hodgson, CMG, OBE (1892- 1958) was an Australian diplomat and member of the drafting committee for the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Condition: Good and 100% original condition with wear, tiny surface scratches, minor firing flaws, one minuscule Kintsugi touch-up. Knob reattached. Two short thin glaze hairlines to lip, one to lid. Weight: 1,704 g including lid Dimensions: Height 25 cm including lid The Jade Hall, Yu Tang, also known as the Hanlin Academy, was an official body in Beijing open only to scholar-officials who received the jinshi (metropolitan) degree. Hanlin Academy or "Office of the Forest of Brushes" was founded in 738, and once it gained control over rescript writing, became the preeminent scholarly institution of the inner court. The Yu Tang Jia Qi mark occurs on porcelain from the Jiajing, Wanli, Tianqi, Chongzhen, Shunzhi and Kangxi periods in differing calligraphic forms and means "Beautiful Vessel for the Jade Hall". Porcelains with this mark are considered to be rare. The shoulder and lid with bands of ruyi heads, a band of petal lappets above the base and a band of vine scrolls around the neck. Old Japanese wood box with inscription to lid and matching textile straps. (2) Literature comparison: Compare with a blue and white bowl with closely related decorations in the British Museum, London, reference number C627. Auction result comparison: For a blue and white box from the same period and with closely related decorations, but with a Fu Gui Jia Qi mark, see Christies Paris in Art d'Asie, 21 - 22 June 2016, lot 161, sold for EUR €27,500. 青花將軍罐，嘉靖，"玉堂佳器"款 中國，1522-1566。底足上有"玉堂佳器"雙圈四字款。削肩鼓腹，六個青花開光牡丹蓮花菊花石榴紋。 來源： W. R. Hodgson上世紀五十年代在東京國立美術館小山富士夫的建議下購於東京，自此在家族中保存。上校William Roy Hodgson先生(1892-1958)，澳大利亞外交官， 聯合國《人權宣言》起草委員會成員。 品相：良好，完全原始狀態，一些磨損，表面輕微劃痕與燒製瑕疵，一道鑲金修補，蓋鈕黏貼過，唇沿及蓋上各有一小段發絲裂縫。 重量： 1,704 克含蓋 尺寸： 高 25 厘米含蓋