Lot 661. A blue and white hexagonal box and cover, Mark and period of Wanli (1573-1619). Estimate 200,000 — 250,000 HKD. Lot sold 300,000 HKD. Photo: Sotheby's;

of hexagonal section, the straight sides supported on an integral base with a pierced apron, the exterior painted in inky tones of cobalt with six panels under a band of lingzhi, each enclosing a trigram and a crane among clouds, set with a pair of mythical beast-head handles, the fitted cover similarly decorated and surmounted by a finial in the form of a seated qilin, the underside of the box inscribed in underglaze blue with a six-character reign mark within a double-rectangle - 22.2 cm, 8 3/4 in.

Notes: Another similar Wanli reign-marked incense burner is preserved in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Masterworks of Chinese Porcelain in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1969, no. 36. Compare also another related incense burner, sold Christie's Hong Kong, 30th November 2011, lot 2984.

A very rare late Ming blue and white censer and cover, Wanli six-character mark within double-rectangles and of the period (1573-1619). EstimateHKD 900,000 - HKD 1,200,000 (USD 120,000 - USD 150,000). Price Realised HKD 1,700,000 (USD 219,259) at Christie's Hong Kong, 30th November 2011, lot 2984. © Christie's Images Ltd 2011.

Of hexagonal section, each panel painted in cobalt-blue of bright tone with a quatrefoil cartouche of a crane inflight amongst lingzhi sprays, scrolling clouds below trigrams, the corners of two sides set with a moulded qilin head handle, raised on an integral base with a pierced cloud shaped apron and stretcher, the cover with a high-relief moulded figure of a qilin seated over a pierced cash-shaped opening surrounded by cloud scrolls and trigrams - 8 3/4 in. (22.2 cm.) overall high 

Provenance: Shichizaemon Yuasa Collection, Kyoto
Previously sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 11 April 2008, lot 2942 

Exhibited: Osaka Municipal Museum 

Note: A Wanli-marked rectangular censer and cover with a very similarly modelled mythical beast finial in the National Palace Museum, Taipei is illustrated in Masterworks of Chinese Porcelain in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1969, no. 36. 

Sotheby's. Chinese Art, Hong Kong, 02 Dec 2016