Lot 40. A wucai jar and cover, 17th century. Height 35 cm, 13¾ in. Estimate: 6,000 - 8,000 GBP. Courtesy Sotheby's.

of baluster form, rising from a gently spreading foot to a broad shoulder, waisted neck and a slightly lipped rim, painted with a continuous scene of elegantly attired ladies watching over young boys at play in a grand garden setting, the neck encircled with a band of leafy floral blossoms, the domed cover painted with phoenixes in flight surmounted by a knobbed finial.