A large Chinese celadon glazed funerary jar, Song Dynasty, the slender pear-shaped vase applied with a border of twelve standing figures with a striding dragon applied in relief around the neck, with further figures and mythical animals, surmounted by a tall domed cover surmounted by a crane or egret finial, 81.5cm highJars of this form were placed in pairs in tombs and contained offerings to the dead. The jar is replete with ancient traditional Chinese symbolism; the bird finial represents the Vermilion Bird of the South and the applied dragon at the neck represents the Green Dragon of the East. The mythical figures could be identified as a sun god and star gods, together with cranes, the symbols of longevity. Compare a very similar funerary jar illustrated in S.Pierson, Qingbai ware: Chinese Porcelain of the Song and Yuan Dynasties , 2002, p180, no.97. the cover with one wing missed to the bird and neck off and re-stuck, the body of the vase with one applied figure missing and firing faults and crazing to the glaze throughout