Lot 187. A rare famille verte bottle vase, Kangxi period (1662-1722); 17.2cm (6 3/4in) high. Estimate £15,000 - 20,000 (€18,000 - 24,000). Photo: Bonhams.

The compressed globular body supported on a tall splayed channelled foot rising to a long slender neck and gently everted rim, the exterior enamelled with a scholar leaning on a rocky platform and holding a cup, under a leafy tree, all beneath a three-line poem describing the scene and entitled 'Yin Yue Tu'.

Note: 清康熙 五彩「飲月圖」長頸瓶

Inscribed on the bottle is the following poem:

飲月圖
獨倚雲根邀月飲
啣抵露滴影消之
風清林外生何處
心着水壺月在天

This may be translated as:

Image of Toasting the Moon
Alone leaning against the rock inviting the moon to a toast,
Drops of dew held to the lips, its reflection vanishes;
From where arises the pure forest breeze?
My heart is moved by the water pot, the moon in the sky. 

Compare with a related bottle vase decorated with figures and calligraphic inscription, Shunzhi, illustrated in Seventeenth Century Chinese Porcelain from the Butler Family Collection, Alexandria, 1990, p.106, no.59.

Bonhams. FINE CHINESE ART, 11 May 2017, 11:00 BST, LONDON, NEW BOND STREET