Lot 31. A rare cloisonné enamel and gilt-bronze parfumier, Ming dynasty, Wanli period (1573-1619); 23cm., 9in. (the basket). Estimate 8,000 — 12,000 GBP. Lot Sold 39,650 GBP. © Sotheby's

the baluster body brightly decorated with bands of flower-filled ruyi and quatrefoil panels reserved on a cash diaper ground, divided by a pierced gilt 'Three Friends' band, the broad everted gilt-bronze rim pierced with leafy floral sprays and encircled by a vertical cloisonne lip, all supported by a dragon handle and three long chains.

Note:Reticulated cloisonné enamel vessels of this form and large size are rare; see a smaller example of square section, in the Pierre Uldry collection, included in the exhibition Chinesisches Cloisonné. Die Sammlung Pierre Uldry, Rietberg Museum, Zurich, 1985, cat. no. 161; and a pair of hexafoil section offered at Christie's Hong Kong, 29th October 1995, lot 622.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art, London, 12 May 2010