A wucai ‘Boys’ jar, Wanli mark and period. Photo Sotheby's

the ovoid body surmounted by a tapered neck, painted to the exterior with eight boys engaged in various pursuits in a garden landscape with trees and pierced rocks, all below a band of pendent lappets, the base inscribed with a six-character reign mark within a double-circle; 13.3cm., 5 ¼ in. Estimation 25,000 — 30,000 GBP

Provenance: Christie’s Hong Kong, 26th September 1989, lot 585.