Lot 943. A Qingbai 'melon' box and cover, Song dynasty (960-1279). Estimate 3,000 — 5,000 USD. Lot sold 3,750 USD. © Sotheby's

of compressed globular form resembling a melon with lobed sides, an applied curled stem emerging from the convex center of the cover, applied overall in a translucent light turquoise-blue glaze pooling in the recesses, save for the raised interior rim and base left unglazed revealing the white body, the latter with a four-character mark in relief reading Cai jia hezi ji (the Cai family [made this] box) (2)

Provenance: Belgian Private Collection.