Lot 116. A large polychrome vase, Transitional Period. Estimate 15,000 — 20,000 USD. Lot sold 38,400 USD. Photo: Sothebys.

of slender ovoid form painted in underglaze-blue and three shades of green, yellow, red, aubergine and black enamels with the scene of a nobleman flanked by military guards and officials, seated on a throne in a tented pavilion in a terraced garden, before three kneeling courtiers bearing respectively a boot, a wine bottle and a jue, a fourth standing on the side holding a cloth-wrapped package, the neck with peony sprays; 20 in., 50.9 cm.

Note: The scene depicted in this vase may be an extrapolation of a story about the Tang poet Li Bo (701 - 762) or from another story known as "Chancellor Ku Zhun Venturing into the Cellar Without His Boots On" where the chancellor, treading silently in his socks fails to catch General Yan Linlang and has to report his failure to the eight princes. A jar painted with a very similar scene is illustrated in 'Shunzhi Porcelain, Treasures from an Unknown Reign', Honolulu Academy of Arts, 2002, Catalogue, no. 70.