Lot 237. A blue and white garlic-necked bottle vase, Ming dynasty, Chongzhen period (1627-1644). 38 cm, 14 15/16  in. Estimate 4,000 — 6,000 GBP. Lot sold 11,250 GBP. Courtesy Sotheby's.

the globular body rising from a short spreading foot to a tall slender garlic neck with a slightly flared rim, finely painted around the exterior in rich cobalt-blue tones with a continuous military encampment scene in a mountainous landscape with a kneeling messenger being received by a fully dressed general beneath a willow tree, accompanied by banner-carrying attendants, between a band of floral scrolls encircling the shoulders and a lappet border at the foot, the neck with vertical bands of stylised blossoms and foliage. 

Note: Compare a similar bottle featuring a group of seated scholars, in the collection of M. & Mme Frits Lugt, illustrated in Daisy Lion-Goldschmidt and Jean-Claude Moreau-Gobard, Chinese Art, Jade, Sculpture, Ceramics, London, 1960, pl. 196; and another with a scene of dignitaries receiving a messenger illustrated in The Burghley Porcelains. An Exhibition from The Burghley House Collection and based on the 1688 and 1690 Devonshire Schedule, New York, 1986, pl. 4.

Sotheby's. St George Street Sale: Chinese Art, London, 10 Nov 2017, 10:00 AM