Lot 1353. A large blue and white charger, Wanli six-character mark in underglaze blue within a double circle and of the period (1573-1619); 16¼ in. (41.2 cm.) diam. Estimate USD 20,000 - USD 30,000. Price realised USD 60,000. © Christie's Image Ltd 2010.

Heavily potted, the center painted with boys at play as scholars, below water birds in a lotus pond in the well, the exterior with a band of conjoined lotus buds.

Note: A similar dish of slightly smaller size (31.4 cm.) is illustrated by Rosemary Scott in Elegant Form and Harmonious Decoration, Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, London, 1992, no. 91.

Lot 1348. A rare blue and white globular jar, Jiajing six-character mark in underglaze blue and of the period (1522-1566); 4 in. (10.2 cm.) high. Estimate USD 8,000 - USD 12,000. Price realised USD 50,000. © Christie's Image Ltd 2010.

The compressed globular body painted with ascending and descending five-clawed dragons, phoenixes and cranes amidst small wispy clouds, between a double-line border at the rim and a series of ruyi head-form clouds above a double-line border on the shallow, spreading foot.

Lot 1359. A rare blue and white beaker vase, Transitional period, Chongzhen (1628-1644); 17¾ in. (45.2 cm.) high. Estimate USD 25,000 - USD 35,000. Price realised USD 40,000. © Christie's Image Ltd 2010.

Finely painted on the neck with a cockerel standing on a rock flanked by magnolia and peony, with butterflies on the reverse, the center section with foliate medallions and shou characters and the lower section with pendent leaf tips, all within incised anhua borders.

Literature: The Asian Art Week, celebrating the exhibition at Kensington Palace, illustrated on the cover, circa 2000. 

Note: The symbolism of the decoration on the neck represents the rebus, shi shang da ji ('may enormous good fortune come to your family'). A slightly smaller (43.1 cm.) blue and white vase of the same form with nearly identical decoration, in the collection of the Palace Museum, is illustrated in Qing Shunzi Kangxi Zhao Qinghua Ci, Beijing, 2005, no. 54.

Lot 1356. A large blue and white meiping, Wanli six-character mark in a line in underglaze blue and of the period (1573-1619); 17¼ in. (43.8 cm.) high. Estimate USD 10,000 - USD 15,000. Price realised USD 20,000. © Christie's Image Ltd 2010.

Decorated in imitation of Xuande period (1426-1435) prototypes and boldly painted in inky underglaze blue around the sides with a four-clawed dragon trailing flames from its shoulders and grasping a stem of lingzhi in its jaws between petal lappet borders.

Provenance: Acquired in Hong Kong in 1982.

Note: Compare two other similar, but larger, Wanli-marked meiping: one (63.4 cm.) illustrated by Lu Minghua in Mingdai Guanyao Ciqi, Shanghai, 2007, p. 167, fig. 3-97; the other (58.5 cm.) illustrated in Mayuyama, Seventy Years, Tokyo, vol. 1, p. 318, no. 952. These and the present meiping were made in imitation of Xuande period (1426-35) prototypes, such as the one illustrated in Imperial Porcelain of the Yongle and Xuande Periods, Excavated from the Site of the Ming Imperial Factory at Jingdezhen, Hong Kong, 1989, pp. 258-9, no. 88.

Lot 1349. A blue and white bottle vase, yuhuchunping, Ming dynasty, 16th century; 9 1/16 in. (23.1 cm.) high. Estimate USD 5,000 - USD 7,000. Price realised USD 20,000. © Christie's Image Ltd 2010.

Painted with a broad band of three phoenixes in flight amidst lotus scroll between borders of petals and flower sprays, with bands of key fret and upright leaf tips on the neck.

Lot 1358. A small blue and white sleeve vase, Transitional period, Chongzhen (1628-1644); 9 1/8 in. (23.2 cm.) high. Estimate USD 5,000 - USD 7,000. Price realised USD 15,000. © Christie's Image Ltd 2010.

Finely painted with a scene of a lotus plant issuing from a pond and narcissus growing beside rocks and bamboo, below an incised anhua band and leaf tips at the rim

Note: The combination of naricissus, rocks and bamboo forms the rebus qunxian zhushou ('may the group of immortals congratulate you on your birthday').

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art Including Property from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections. 26 March 2010. New York, Rockefeller Plaza