Lot 147.  A doucai 'Wang Xizhi' cup, Qing dynasty, Kangxi period (1662-1722). Estimate 30,000 — 50,000 GBP. Photo: Sotheby's.

delicately potted with deep rounded sides resting on a countersunk base, the exterior brilliantly enamelled with a continuous scene depicting Wang Xizhi dressed in a green robe, seated within a fenced garden and waited on by an attendant, gazing at a geese in the water, while another scholar and attendant look on nearby under a pine tree, the base with an apocryphal six-character Chenghua mark in underglaze blue within a double square; 6.2 cm, 2 3/8  in.

Provenance: Collection of P.J. Donnelly (d. 1978)..

Notes: Cups painted with this elegant design include one from the collection of Peter Boode, sold twice in these rooms, 2nd/3rd December 1974, lot 191, and 5th July 1977, lot 259; and another sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 30th November 2011, lot 3095.

Sotheby's. Important Chinese Art, London, 09 Nov 2016, 11:30 AM