A peachbloom-glazed brush washer, tangluo xi, Kangxi six-character mark in underglaze blue and of the period (1662-1722). Estimate $30,000 – $50,000. Photo Christie's Image Ltd 2015

The compressed globular body is covered with a glaze of soft rose color that thins to mushroom around the middle of the body and to a line of greyish-pink at the rim. The interior and base are white. 4 ¾ in. (12 cm.) diam.

Provenance: Private American collection, acquired in the 1950s-60s.

Notes: This type of brush washer is described as being of 'gong' shape, or tangluo xi, as it has a very compressed body. It belongs to a group of eight vessel shapes referred to as the ba da ma, 'Eight Great Numbers', all covered in a peachbloom glaze and thought to have been devised to serve as requisite appointments for the Emperor's writing table. However, according to John Ayers, 'The Peachbloom Wares of the Kangxi Period', Transactions of the Oriental Ceramic Society, vol. 64, 1999-2000, pp. 31-50, they may have been made as gifts to be presented at court. To see a similar washer within the context of a complete set, see S. Valenstein, The Handbook of Chinese Ceramics, New York, 1989 (rev. ed.), p. 237.

Christie's. FINE CHINESE CERAMICS AND WORKS OF ART, 17 - 18 September 2015, New York, Rockefeller Plaza