Lot 285. A 'wucai' 'dragon and phoenix' bowl, Yongzheng mark and period (1723-1735); diameter 5 7/8 in., 14.9 cm. Estimate 8,000—10,000 USD. Sold 60,000 USD. photo courtesy Sotheby's

of U-shape rising to a slightly everted rim, painted to the exterior with two striding five-clawed scaly dragons in pursuit of 'flaming pearls', one painted in green enamel, the other painted in iron-red, interspersed with two descending phoenix picked out in green, aubergine and yellow enamel with underglaze-blue and iron-red, all below a border of the bajixiang ('Eight Buddhist Emblems') at the rim, the interior well with an iron-red dragon in pursuit of a 'flaming pearl' surrounding by flames, enclosed by an underglaze-blue double ring.