of rectangular section with a slightly concave sloping top, delicately painted in brown over a creamy-white slip with a military official  approaching a scholar seated in an open pavilion, with their attendants, within a shaped cartouche reserved on a floral ground, with two quatrefoil panels enclosing an inscription reading Zhangbin Yiren zhi ('Made by the idler of the bank of the Zhang'), the sides with similar panels enclosing peony and lotus sprays, reserved on floral grounds, the unglazed base with an impressed mark reading Wang shi Shouming, and with an inscription written in black ink dated to the twenty-first day in the twelfth month of the eleventh year of Zhizheng, corresponding to 1351

Warren E. Cox, New York, 23rd October 1957. 
Collection of Stephen Junkunc, III (d. 1978). 

There is restoration to the upper right corner of the pillow's top (length approx. 7 cm) and frits around the edges of the top, sides, and base. One of the side panels has scattered kiln adhesions. Minor expected surface wear.
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.

Rectangular pillows finely painted with narrative scenes within lobed, shaped cartouches reserved against dense floral grounds were produced during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Wang Shouming is believed to have produced pillows in Cixian, Hebei province during the Jin dynasty. Compare another pillow by Wang Shouming in the British Museum, London, purchased from George Eumorfopoulos in 1936, acc. no. 1936,1012.219.