Lot 3736. A rare carved cinnabar lacquer and ivory cricket cage, Qing dynasty, Qianlong period (1736-1795); 12.2 cm., 4 3/4  in.  Estimate 180,000 — 250,000 HKD. Lot sold 375,000 HKD. © Sotheby's

the bulbous body with a waisted neck tapering to a pointed base, the exterior carved with floral roundels, including lotus, peony and hibiscus blossoms, some freely floating, others overlapping in small clusters, one roundel picked out with a fluttering butterfly, the rim bordered with a pendent border of plantain leaves alternating with stylised ruyi-shaped petals enclosing a floral scroll, the tip delicately carved as a floral blossom, all against a diapered ground, set with an lipped ivory rim, the well-fitted domed cover surmounted by a reticulated finial depicting a floret wreathed by scrolling foliage, ivory stand. 

Sotheby's. Important Chinese Works of Art, Hong Kong, 07 april 2015