Lot 186.  A rare wucai 'boys' charcoal burner, Ming dynasty, Tianqi-Chongzhen period (1621-1644). Diameter 11.8 cm, Japanese wood box (3), Lot sold 6,350 USD (Estimate 6,000 - 8,000 USD). © Sotheby's 2024

Provenance : Sotheby's Hong Kong, 28th November 2018, lot 678.

Note: See a closely related charcoal burner of children engaged in a sword fight, sold in our London rooms, 7th November 2007, lot 314. Another from the Hirota Collection, with figures depicted in a boat is illustrated in Tōkyō Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan Hirota Fukosai korekushon. Cha no bijutsu hen [Tokyo National Museum Hirota Fukosai Collection. Tea Ceremony Art], Tokyo, 2006, pl. 45; lastly, one with children playing is illustrated in Zenta Nobuyo, Ko sometsuke to shonzui / Ko-sometsuke and Shonzui, Kyoto, 2020, pl. 66.

Sotheby's. Chinese Art, New York, 19 March 2024