Lot 1391. A rare Ming blue and white rectangular plaque, Zhengde period (1506-1521); 11 x 14 3/4 in. (28 x 37.5 cm.). Estimate HKD 200,000 - HKD 300,000. Price realised HKD 480,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2006.

Painted with the central figure of Shoulao seated on a rocky platform on the banks of a flowing river, before an audience comprised of scholars, the Eight Immortals, characters from Daoist mythology and animals associated with Daoism, including a tortoise, deer and a crane, the rocky landscape growing bamboo and pine trees with both the sun and moon overhead, and the character Shou directly above Shoulao, framed, box.

Christie's. Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, Hong Kong, 30 May 2006