A moulded celadon washer. Seal mark and period of Qianlong. Photo: Courtesy Sotheby's

of mallow form raised on three cabriole legs with shallow sides everting sharply at the rim, the interior delicately carved with a central eight-petalled floret encircled by an intricate meander of scrolling stems and foliage emitting from four lotus heads, each lobe carved on the exterior with a lotus flower and its foliage, all covered with a glossy light celadon glaze - 15.6 cm., 6 1/8 in. - Lot Sold:  437,500 HKD

NOTE : For a Song dynasty prototype of this lobed brush-washer compare a Guan brushwasher in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in the Catalogue: Kuan Ware of the Southern Sung Dynasty, Book 1, part 2, pl. 41; and another in the Percival David Foundation collection, included in the Illustrated Catalogue of Ru, Guan, Jun, Guangdong and Yixing Wares, London, 1999, cat.no. 29.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art. 08 Oct 08. Hong Kong - www.sothebys.com