Lot 3209. A rare 'Yue' celadon figure of a mythical beast, Western Jin dynasty (265-316), 8.1 cm, 3 1/8  in. Estimate 300,000 — 400,000 HKD. Lot sold 937,500 HKD. Photo: Sotheby's.

sensitively modelled in the round as a stylised mythical beast depicted kneeling with the left front paw placed on the chest and the right on its chin, the charming figure rendered with the head gently tilted upwards, detailed with piercing round eyes framed by a well-pronounced snout and a striated horn and pair of ears, the reverse of the plump body detailed with a crenulated spine flanked by carved motifs, covered overall with a translucent pale olive-green glaze subtly pooling to a deeper tone in the recesses.

Note: Playfully modelled as a kneeling mythological beast raising its hand to its mouth in a contemplative manner, this charming piece belongs to a group of playful vessels made for the scholar's desk that were produced in kilns in northern Zhejiang and southern Jiangsu. Numerous vessels in the form of crouching animals, mostly of toads, have been recovered from tombs of the Three Kingdoms and Western Jin dynasty, although those modelled in this kneeling pose are rare and no other closely related piece appears to have been published.

Compare a water vessel in the shape of a standing animal drinking from a cup, illustrated in The Complete Works of Chinese Ceramics, vol. 4, Shanghai, 2000, pl. 32, together with one modelled as a crouching toad, in the Huzhou Museum, Zhejiang province, pl. 214.