Lot 238. A blue and white shallow bowl, Kangxi mark and period (1662-1722). Estimate 8,000 — 12,000 GBP. Lot sold 17,500  GBP. Photo Sotheby's.

the curved sides rising from a short straight foot to a slightly flared rim, the interior painted in bright cobalt blue colours with a lady seated in an interior at a table playing a qin to a scholar, the exterior painted with a sampan in a mountainous river landscape with retreats, the six-character Kangxi mark in underglaze blue; 17.7 cm, 6 7/8  in. 

Dishes of this type, painted with figures in elegant interiors or gardens were popular from the Kangxi period; see four slightly smaller dishes in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Qing Shunzhi Kangxi qiao qinghua ci, Beijing, 2005, pls 73-75 and 80; another sold in these rooms, 11th December 1990, lot 314; and a pair, from the collection of the Strong Museum, Rochester, sold in our New York rooms, 22nd March 2001, lot 124.