Lot 118. A blue and white sleeve vase, late Ming dynasty, Chongzhen period, dated to the Kuiwei year corresponding to 1643; 45.2 cm, 17 3/4  in. Estimate 8,000 — 12,000 GBP. Lot sold 77,500 GBP. Courtesy Sotheby's 2018.

of cylindrical form the tapering body rising to a slightly waisted neck with everted rim, finely painted in washes of cobalt blue with a fan-shaped panel of a bird perch on flowering branches, together with a leaf-shaped panel depicting two musicians in a fenced rock garden, all surrounded with lingzhi sprays and scholar's rocks, with an inscription dating it to the summer of Kuiwei year (1643), signed Songshiju.

From an Italian collection.

Sotheby's. Important Chinese Art, London, 16 May 2018, 10:30 AM