Lot 142. A rare blue and white 'Romance of the Western Chamber' bottle vase, Chenghua six-character mark, Kangxi period (1662-1722); 42.5cm (16 3/4in) high. Estimate £ 8,000 - 12,000 (€ 9,200 - 14,000). Sold for £ 10,000 (€ 11,487). © Bonhams. 

The compressed globular body set with a tall cylindrical neck with a lipped mouth, finely painted around the exterior in cobalt-blue with a continuous scene of Lady Cui Yingying sitting on a terrace of an elegantly decorated pavilion, gazing at her lover Zhang Junrui and his attendants carrying cases, fans and a qin, a poem written on the neck.

Note: The Romance of the Western Chamber, written by Wang Shifu (1250-1300) was immensely popular among all levels of society. Woodblock illustrations in the many editions helped conventionalise images that were instantly recognisable to the general public, thus creating a corpus of motifs that was widely used by painters, silk embroiderers, lacquer workers and other craftsmen.

The scene on this vase is from Act III, Part 4, when Lady Cui Yingying sends Zhang Junrui off to the capital to take the Imperial examination. The poem on the vase, however, is adopted from another story, Yangjiafu Shidai Zhongyong Tongsu Yanyi (the story of courageous and loyal generations of the Yang family), first published in 1606, it reads: 

遲遲麗日布韶光, 春到人間景異常。
雨後江山增秀麗, 風前花柳競芬芳。
尋香戲蝶輕翻拍, 求友嬌鶯巧奏簧。
景物撩人無限好, 不妨收拾入詩腸。

Which may be translated as:

'Late in the gloaming evening, Spring arrives with unusual scenery.
After the rain the mountains and rivers increase in beauty, before the breeze the fragrant willows and flowers vie.
Searching for incense the fluttering butterflies, seeking a friend to play the flute.
Nothing compares to the scenery, so you may wish to etch it on your poetic heart'

Compare with very similar scene on a vase, Kangxi, in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (acc.no.635&A-1903).

Vase and lid, porcelain painted in underglaze blue, China, Qing dynasty, Kangxi period (1662-1722). Height: 27.9 cm, Diameter: 10.5 cm. Bequeathed by W. H. Cope, Esq; acc.no.635&A-1903. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London