The decoration is banded: cloud heads on the shoulder, a phoenix with outspread wings on the belly whose tail stretches into scrolling foliage, and a ring of transformed lotus petals above the foot. Where the cobalt is dense there are rust-coloured spots, the signature of a manganese-rich old pigment; later copies are usually too clean.
Prices for these vases step sharply: an intact example and one with a hairline crack can differ several times over. Read what the condition report says about the rim and the foot, and ask for additional detail photographs before the sale.
