Lot 362. A fine blue white 'Story of the White Hare' bowl and cover, Qing Dynasty, Kangxi Period (1662-1722). Height 7 1/2  in., 19.1 cm. Estimate 20,000 — 30,000 USD. Lot sold 52,500 USD. Courtesy Sotheby's.

the steep rounded sides rising to a short upright rim and supported on a slightly tapered foot, the exterior vibrantly painted in rich and varied tones of underglaze blue with a lively, continuous narrative scene depicting the moment the young soldier, Yaoqi Lang, galloping on horseback, accompanied by fellow warriors, hunting a white rabbit and fatefully encountering a demurely posed Li Sanniang fetching water from a well, all amid a rustic setting, the slightly domed cover with four scenes illustrating a young scholar attending to the teachings of masters engaged in conversation, painting, calligraphy and playing the qin, all surmounted by a stepped spherical knop (2), coll. no. 105.

Provenance: Collection of Eileen Lesoeuf.
Ben Janssens Oriental Art, London, 1999. 

Exhibited: Seventeenth Century Chinese Blue and White Porcelain from the Private Collection of Eileen Lesouef, Ben Janssens Oriental Art, London, 1999, cat. no. 54.

Literature: Jeffrey P. Stamen, Cynthia Volk with Yibin Ni, A Culture Revealed, Kangxi-Era Chinese Porcelain from the Jie Rui Tang Collection, Bruges, 2017, cat. no. 9.