This elaborate granary jar has a slender body and an elongated neck with applied motifs of phoenix and dragon. Below these is a row of standing figures. The piece is covered in 'Qingbai' glaze, so called because of its characteristic icy bluish-white quality. The bird-shaped finial on the cover symbolises the Vermilion Bird of the South, while the dragon, the Green Dragon of the East. These symbols of the Chinese constellations represent four directions and seasons.
