Lot 2942. A blue and white censer, Mark and period of Wanli (1573-1620); 22.2 cm., 8 3/4 in. Estimate 500,000 — 700,000 HKD. Lot sold 787,500 HKD (63,979 EUR) (101,107 USD). Courtesy Sotheby's 2008.

of hexagonal section, each side painted in bright washes of cobalt with one of the bagua trigrams on a lingzhi scroll enclosed within a quatrefoil panel with a crane hovering above rocks, the corners of two sides set with a moulded qilin head, all supported on an integral base with a pierced cloud shaped apron and a hexagonal stretcher, the cover of conforming shape with a high-relief moulded figure of a qilin seated over a pierced cash-shaped opening surrounded by cloud scrolls and two other trigrams, the base inscribed in underglaze blue with a six-character reign mark within a double-rectangle cartouche, black lacquer cover.

Provenance: Shichizaemon Yuasa Collection, Kyoto.

Exhibited: Osaka Municipal Museum.

Note: See a similar Wanli censer but without the cover, sold at Christie's New York, 12th August 1975, lot 133.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, Hong Kong, 11 Apr 2008