Sotheby's. Important Chinese Art, New York, 20 march 2019.
A circular blue and white 'peony' box and cover, Kangxi mark and period (1662-1722)
Lot 511. A circular blue and white 'peony' box and cover, Kangxi mark and period (1662-1722). Diameter 6 5/8 in., 16.8 cm. Estimate US$20,000 — 30,000. Lot sold 47,500 USD. Courtesy Sotheby's.
the shallow rounded sides supported on a tapered foot, the exterior painted with meandering foliate stems issuing lush peony blossoms, the tones of the cobalt carefully modulated to achieve a nuanced, painterly effect, the domed cover similarly adorned, the base with a six-character mark in underglaze blue (2).
Note: Compare a box of the same design sold in our London rooms, 17th March 1981, lot 28. A similar example, but with a butterfly painted to the center of the cover in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in Gugong Bowuyuan cang Qingdai yuyao ciqi [Porcelains from the Qing Imperial kilns in the Palace Museum Collection], vol. 2, Beijing, 2005, pl. 16; and a box of the same design sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 2nd May 1994, lot 648.