The 8in (7cm) high piece, estimated at £30,000-50,000, is part of a 15-lot collection of libation cups and works of art consigned by the family of Harry Geoffrey Beasley (1881-1939), a wealthy brewery owner and museum curator who bequeathed a substantial part of his ethnographic collection to The British Museum.
Other works for sale include a Ming Dynasty kesi ‘Cranes’ fragment (£1000-1500 estimate), a Japanese Satsuma vase by Okamoto Ryozan (1868-1912) with a £2000-3000 guide and a mid-20th century Indonesian gold, enamel and diamond ‘dragon’ bangle from the collection of former Dutch Ambassador Gerard Dissevelt (1912-92) who was stationed in Shanghai and Beijing in the 1950s (£800-1200 estimate).
The auction of Asian art takes place on November 18 in Bermondsey, south-east London, and can be found online via thesaleroom.com.
