A CHINESE BLUE AND WHITE 'WATER MARGIN' ROULEAU VASE

KANGXI 1662-1722

Painted with a scene from The Water Margin depicting a soldier lifting a bronze ding high above his head with one hand, with many further warriors and scholar-officials watching the spectacle, the three large windows behind looking out on to gusts of wind, a mountainous riverscape and a carp leaping from crashing waves, the scene divided by leafy trees growing amidst rocks and swirling clouds, the base with an artemisia leaf and a paper label reading 'Ex-collection Lord Chesterfield', 44.5cm.

Provenance: from an English private collection, West Yorkshire, formed in the 1970s and 1980s, purchased from the Reverend G E Grime.

It is believed that in ancient China, the act of lifting a bronze ding was a display of absolute strength and a demonstration of virility.