Northern Qi Dynasty|Robustly potted, the baluster body raised on a tall spreading foot encircled by a band of radiating lotus petals, the lower body decorated with slender chicken-headed columns leading to eight roundels variously containing lotus flower heads and mythical animals, all beneath two relief registers of lotus lappets above tiger heads issuing acanthus leaves, the high shoulder applied with three strap handles, rising to a gently flaring neck with two registers of cartouches containing the image of the Buddha and floral sprays alternated with lion masks, all covered under an olive-green glaze, the domed cover decorated with eight acanthus leaves radiating from a bud-shaped finial, fitted box. 65cm (25 5/8in) high (3).|北齊 青釉貼蓮瓣獸面帶蓋花樽Provenance: the Sze Yuan Tang collection, acquired in Hong Kong circa 1980s-1990s來源： 思源堂收藏，於約1980至1990年代購自香港Compare two similar green-glazed vases, zun, Northern Qi dynasty, unearthed in 1948 and currently in the Palace Museum, Beijing, both of similar form moulded with lotus petals, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Porcelain of the Jin and Tang Dynasties, Hong Kong, 1996, pp.61-63, nos.56-57. Another similar green-glazed vase, North Dynasties, was excavated from the tomb of Feng Zihui in Jing Prefecture, Hebei Province, dated 565, illustrated by Imai Atsushi, Chugoku no Toji 4: Seiji, Tokyo, 1997, no.15.For a related green-glazed earthenware jar and cover, Northern Qi dynasty, of similar shape and decoration but smaller in size, see G.Eskenazi and H.Elias, A Dealer's Hand: The Chinese Art World Through the Eyes of Giuseppe Eskenazai, p.253, pl.201.The result of Oxford Authentication Ltd. thermoluminescence test no.C109g14 dated 9 June 2009, is consistent with the dating of this lot.