A Guan-type lobed washer, 18th century. Photo Bonhams.

Raised on three low feet and of foliate form with eight large lobes, all covered with a thick glaze of soft grey tone with an attractive matrix of 'iron wire' and 'golden thread', the base with spur marks around a small unglazed circular area. 22cm (8¾in) diam. Estimate £3,000 - 4,000 (€3,700 - 4,900)

Provenance: a Swiss private collection and thence by descent

Compare a similar Ru-type glazed washer, with a Qianlong seal mark and of the period, in the collection of the Nanjing Museum, illustrated in Treasures in the Royalty: The Official Kiln Porcelain of the Chinese Qing Dynasty, Shanghai, 2003, p.334. Another Ge-type tripod washer is illustrated in the catalogue An Exhibition of Important Chinese Ceramics from the Robert Chang Collection, London, 1993, no.62.

Bonhams. ASIAN DECORATIVE ARTS. 4 Mar 2014, San Francisco - www.bonhams.com