Lot 223. A white-glazed soft-paste vase, Qing dynasty, Yongzheng period (1723-1735); 38.2 cm, 15 in. Estimate: £15,000 - £20,000. Lot Sold: £30,000. © Sotheby's.

well-potted with a pear-shaped body supported on a short foot sweeping to a tall cylindrical neck, the exterior intricately moulded in relief with four shou character motifs surrounded by stylised kuidragons, divided by flying bats, below a ruyi head border issuing from a key fret band at the shoulders with a frieze of plantain leaves extending up the neck, above a band of upright lappets encircling the foot, all between key fret borders at the rim and at the foot, the cream-white body beneath a finely crackled glaze.