Lot 3231. A rare large 'Yaozhou' celadon tripod incense burner, Northern Song–Jin Dynasty (960-1234), 22.1 cm, 8 5/8  in. Estimate 300,000 — 400,000 HKD. Lot sold 687,500 HKD. Photo: Sotheby's.

sturdily potted with a bombé body rising to a short constricted neck and wide everted rim, the lower body bordered with two fillets, below a gently raised border to the upper body, all supported on three splayed legs decorated with a mythical beast mask, the base centred with a recessed medallion, applied with a translucent sage-green glaze suffused with a network of fine crackles.

Provenance: Galaxie Company, Hong Kong, prior to 1990.

Exhibited: The Grandeur of Chinese Art Treasures: Min Chiu Society Golden Jubilee Exhibition, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 2010-11, cat. no. 100.

Note: An incense burner of similar form and glaze, in the Shaanxi Provincial Museum, Xian, is illustrated in Zhongguo taoci quanji [Complete collection of Chinese ceramics], vol. 10: Yaozhou Yao [Yaozhou kiln], Kyoto, 1985, vol. 70, pl. 49. Compare also the incense burner from the Frederick M. Mayer Collection, sold at Christie's London, 24th June 1974, lot 39.