An exceptionally rare and important blue and white jar, Guan, 14th century (ceramic)

Robustly potted standing on a broad, low foot rising to a full rounded shoulder below a short cylindrical neck and a slightly thickened mouth rim, vividly painted in a deep and vibrant cobalt blue around the body with a narrative scene depicting a robed figure seated in a two-wheeled cart drawn by a tiger and a leopard, following two foot soldiers each carrying a spear, approaching a rustic bridge across a stream beneath a waterfall, the cart followed by two equestrians on either side of dramatically painted rocks, one in military attire and carrying a banner bearing the characters Gui Gu, the other in scholar's clothes, on a prancing piebald horse and turning towards the first horseman, the composition punctuated by pine, bamboo, flowering prunus, plantain, rose and willow, all between a classic wave band around the neck, a peony scroll around the shoulder, and a band of upright lappets enclosing emblems around the base.