J.J. Lally & Co., Oriental Art / New York City, New York

The characters neifu (Inner Palace) denote imperial use. They can be seen on ceramic wares, notably wine jars of Cizhou type as early as the 14th century. A very similar jar of the same size also with relief neifu characters, in the Aichi Prefectural Ceramic Museum, is illustrated in the catalogue of the special exhibition organized by the Osaka Municipal Museum of Art, Charm of Black & White Ware: Transition of Cizhou Type Wares, Osaka, 2002, p. 134, no. 148, with description on p. 190.

A smaller jar with similar relief characters reserved against a dark brown glaze in the Percival David Foundation, London, and another jar in the same collection, with a turquoise glaze, with the characters neifu gongyong (for use in the Inner Palace) moulded in relief on the shoulder, is illustrated by Medley in The World’s Great Collections: Oriental Ceramics, Vol. 6, Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, London, Tokyo, 1982, p. 115, no. 75.

Compare also the smaller jar of this type with dark brown glaze and relief-moulded neifu characters in the collection of Idemitsu Museum, illustrated in Chinese Ceramics in the Idemitsu Collection, Tokyo, 1987, no. 563.