Lot 3666. A large blue and white hexagonal 'Longevity' jar, Ming dynasty, Jiajing period (1522-1566);  37.5 cm., 14 3/4  in. Estimate 100,000 — 120,000 HKD (11,496 — 13,795 EUR). Lot sold 225,000 HKD (25,865 EUR). Photo Sotheby's.

sturdily potted of hexagonal section, the elegant broad-shouldered body rising from a spreading flat base to a short waisted neck, painted on the exterior with eight cartouches, each detailed with a pair of cranes in flight amidst scrolling clouds, beneath further trapezial cartouche centred with a shou-character quatrefoil medallion against a diaper ground, the neck similarly decorated with cranes among clouds, all above a frieze of stylised trefoils and petals interrupted by geometrical designs bordering the foot.

Provenance: An old Japanese collection.

Exhibition: The Museum of Ceramic Art, Hyogo, prior to 1995, no. 55.

Sotheby's. Important Chinese Art, Hong Kong, 07 oct. 2015, 02:30 PM