Lot 1172. A rare large blue and white censer. Jiajing period (1522-1566). 11¼ in. (28.5 cm.) diam. Estimate USD 15,000 - USD 20,000. Price realised USD 18,750. © Christie's Images Ltd 2012

The cylindrical censer is raised on three small cabriole feet and is molded with a raised line on the upper section, and a lipped rim. It is decorated around the sides with a meandering lotus scroll that envelops the eight emblems of the bajixiang, all beneath a more formal lotus scroll border. The glaze of the interior has a bluish tinge. 

Note: A similar censer, of slightly smaller size (25.8 cm. diam.), excavated from a eunuch's tomb in Chengdu city, Sichuan province, is illustrated by Zhang Bai in Complete Collection of Ceramic Art Unearthed in China, vol. 10, Beijing, 2007, no. 175, where it is dated to the Jiajing period.

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art Part II, 13 September 2012. New York, Rockefeller Plaza