Lot 32. A blue and white double-gourd vase, Chongzhen period (1627-1644). Estimate £7,000 - 10,000 (€7,800 - 11,000). Photo: Bonhams.

The lower section painted in vivid blue with a continuous scene of an attendant holding a vase with three arrows before a dignitary followed by attendants carrying a parasol and fans, all beneath a leafy scroll dividing the upper section painted with a scholar and attendant carrying a zither, all beneath a further scroll of floral sprays. 33.5cm (13 1/4in) high. 

Provenance: a German private collection, acquired from Bernheimer Gallery, Munich

Notes: A blue and white brushpot, c.1635-1645, with similar decoration of a man carrying a vase with halberds is illustrated in Seventeenth Century Chinese Porcelain from the Butler Family Collection, Alexandria, 1990, pl.42.

The scene depicts an attendant carrying a vase with three 'halberds' (ji 戟), which is a homophone for 'grade' (ji 級). The vase with three halberds, is a rebus for rising within the bureaucracy three grades (lian sheng san ji 連升三級), embodying the yearning of every scholar official in Imperial China. 

Bonhams. FINE CHINESE ART, 10 november 2016, 10:30 GMT, LONDON, NEW BOND STREET