Lot 113. An blue and white 'Musicians' dish, Qing dynasty, Kangxi period (1662-1722), 34 cm, 13 3/8  in. Estimate 6,000 — 8,000 GBP. Sold: 13 750 GBP. © Sotheby's.

the shallow rounded sides rising from a short tapering foot to a broad everted rim, the interior painted in rich cobalt blue after an engraving by Nicolas Bonnart, depicting three European figures playing instruments, encircled by landscape-filled lotus-lappet panels in the well and rim, the exterior with freely painted bamboo sprays.

Provenance: Purchased in Paris in the early 1970s.

Note: See a very similar dish in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, published in John Ayers, Far Eastern Ceramics in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1980, pl.184.