Chinese porcelain famille verte, wucai square tapered bowl, Kangxi period, 1662-1722. Photo Marchant

painted with the drunk poet, Li Taibai, sleeping on his wine jar in a fenced landscape beneath the moon, the reverse with Li Taibai beside a wrapped qin, censer and tree, all between two three-column poems with iron-red leaves and seals. The base glazed with traces of the original red inventory number. 3 ¼ inches, 8.3 cm square. Price on request

From the collection of Basil & Nellie Ionides, Buxted Park, East Sussex, and then by direct descent.

Notes: Included by Marchant in their catalogue of Recent Acquisitions, 2004, 14, p. 22.

From an Italian private collection.

The poem translates as:

‘Get drunk, sleep on the qin as a pillow, when inebriated use the wine jar as a cup’, signed ‘Half Stream’.

‘Get drunk and fall in front of the wine cup, the ground becomes one’s sleeping attire’, signed ‘Happy Studio’.