Lot 30. A 'Qingbai' lobed 'Boys and Lotus' bowl, Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127). Diameter 7 3/8  in., 18.7 cm. Estimate 5,000 — 7,000 USD. Lot sold 27,500 USD. © Sotheby's

thinly potted, of conical form, the broad straight sides terminating in a foliate rim, crisply carved to the interior with three chubby boys each perched on a meandering stem of lotus and dense foliage, applied inside and out with a pale, vitreous blue glaze pooling towards the unglazed base, Japanese wood box (4).

Provenance: Kitayama Fine Arts, Tokyo, acquired in the 1970s.