A SMALL WUCAI TEA CADDY 17TH CENTURY |

the cylindrical body bulging slightly at the sides, the flat shoulder surmounted by a short waisted neck and lipped rim, painted around the lower body in underglaze-blue and polychrome enamels with a cricket hopping amidst tall grasses and aster, a poem extolling the joys of reclusion inscribed above and accompanied by two iron-red seals reading Mu lin (wood forest), a cloud-scroll band encircling the shoulder, the base unglazed, Japanese wood box (3)

In overall good condition with only very minor wear to the enamels (e.g., at the shoulder) and a minute nick to the base.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

The combination of poetry and delicately painted images on porcelain was a decorative strategy developed by potters of the Kangxi period (r. 1662-1722). The poem on this tea caddy can be translated as: Clouds fly by, cliffs touch one another,
and the green reaches of the sky.
It costs little to build a thatched hut.
Water flows continuously by the tea cottage;
Plum blossoms open towards my bed.
(Translation by Bai Qianshen with assistance from Julia B. Curtis in Chinese Porcelains of the Seventeenth Century: Landscapes, Scholars' Motifs and Narratives, China Institute Gallery, New York, 1995, p. 104.)