Lot 143. A blue and white ‘Xixiang Ji’ jar, Qing dynasty, Kangxi period (1662-1722); 22cm., 8 5/8 in. Estimate 5,000 — 7,000 GBP. Lot sold 8,125 GBP. Photo: Sotheby's 2013.

the compressed globular body rising from a tapered foot to a short waisted neck, painted to the exterior with two rectangular cartouches enclosing scenes from Xixiang Ji (Romance of the West Chamber), one with Yingying and Hongniang in a garden listening to Zhang Sheng playing the qin outside the walls, the other with four ladies in a fenced garden, inscribed at the base with an apocryphal Chenghua mark within a double-circle.

Provenance: An English Private Collection.