A cinnabar lacquer incense box and cover. Late Ming Dynasty. photo Bonhams

Of circular form, the domed cover carved with Budai seated on a rock and waving a fan above the heads of two clambering boys, approached by a third boy bearing a ruyi sceptre, all against a foliate diaper ground, the sides of the base carved with blossoming peonies against a similar ground, the interiors and base lacquered black. 8.1cm (3¼in) diam. (2). Estimate: £3,000 - 5,000, HK$35,000 - 59,000

Footnote: Compare an incense box and cover, formerly in the E.T.Chow collection and depicting the same subject matter, sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 25 April 2005, lot 16.

Bonhams.  Fine Chinese Art, 13 May 2010. New Bond Street www.bonhams.com