Auction introduction: The Important Chinese Art auction presents a tightly curated sale including masterworks spanning five millennia, from the Neolithic period through to the Qing dynasty. The highlight is a recently discovered superb Yongzheng period puce-enamelled falangcai ‘dragon’ vase, which ranks among the largest porcelains ever to have been enamelled at the imperial workshops in Beijing - an unimaginable feat had it not been recorded in the court archives. Sotheby’s will also present a group of archaic bronzes and gold works of art which passed through the hands of the esteemed dealer, Giuseppe Eskenazi; over 80 archaic jades from the Robert and Cissy Tang collection; exceptional jades from the De An Tang collection including a massive green jade seal from the Qianlong period bearing the seal face tian'en baxun zhi bao, which was extensively impressed on imperial paintings; and a selected group of Jun ware from the Beixuand Shuzhai collection which is led by an early Ming dynasty hexafoil flowerpot, formerly in the T.Y. Chao Family Trust Collection.