Lot 62. A blue and white dish, Ming dynasty, Wanli period (1573-1620). Diameter 5 3/8  in., 13.8 cm. Estimate $3,000–5,000. Lot sold 3,750 USD. Photo: Sotheby's.

painted in vivid tones of underglaze blue with a qilin supporting on its back an elaborate canopied lantern, flanked by two male attendants, framed within a double-line border, the rim with a band of scrolling lotus and foliage, the underside with four precious objects divided by lanterns, the base with a four-character Da Ming nian zhi mark within a double circle.

Note: Compare a slightly larger dish of this type sold in our London rooms, 6th June 1967, lot 144. Another, with a Wanli reign mark, sold in the same rooms, 12th November 2003, lot 155. This design is also found in wucai, see one example illustrated in Bo Gyllensvard, Chinese Ceramics in the Carl Kempe Collection, Stockholm, 1964, pl. 850, and a pair sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 30th November 2016, lot 3399. 

A blue and white saucer dish, Mark and period of Wanli (1573-1620). Sold for 10,800 GBP at Sotheby's London, 6th June 1967, lot 144. Photo: Sotheby's.

A pair of wucai ‘qilin’ dishes, Wanli six-character marks within double circles and of the period (1573-1620), 4 1/4 in. (10.8 cm.) diam. Sold for HKD 325,000 at Christie's Hong Kong, 30th November 2016, lot 3399. © Christie's Images Ltd 2016

Sotheby's. Important Chinese Art, New York, 13 Sep 2017, 10:00 AM