Lot 39. A rare pair of doucai 'Cranes' dishes, Qianlong marks and period (1736-1795). Diameter 5 3/4 in., 14.5 cm. Estimate  10,000 — 15,000 USD. Lot sold 50,000 USD. Photo Sotheby's 

each decorated in the center with an iron-red floret encircled by a wreath of stylized lotus leaves with pale yellow buds, enclosed by a double-line border repeated around the rim, the underside with a frieze of four cranes in underglaze blue divided by floating cloud scrolls in green, pale yellow, pale aubergine and iron-red, seal mark in underglaze blue.

Property from the Estate of William and Jennifer Shaw

Provenance: Sotheby's Hong Kong, 24th November 1981, lot 171.
Sotheby's Hong Kong, 8th November 1982, lot 215.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art, New York, 11 september 2012