A CHINESE BLUE AND WHITE `THREE GRADES` EWER 17th Century, Transitional Period The pear-shaped body rising from a splayed foot to a flared rim, the S-shaped spout opposite an arched strap handle, painted to the exterior with a figural scene depicting an attendant proffering a vase containing three arrows before a dignitary, the reverse with a dignitary and a lady in a woodland clearing, above two bands of petals and below a band of undulating leafy stems issuing flowerheads, the waisted neck decorated with leafy palmettes, 21.5cm high Note: The scene depicts an attendant holding a vase with three `halberds`. The word for halberd is a homophone for `grade`, therefore forming the rebus lian sheng san ji, which means to rise three grade levels within the bureaucracy. 十七世紀 過渡期 青花平升三級執壺 THIS LOT IS OFFERED WITHOUT RESERVE.