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In the late 1730s, as Chinese enameling in the famille rose palette reached its peak, this exceptional pair of jars was exquisitely painted with a beloved legend from Chinese history: Lady Generals of the Yang Family.

Centuries earlier, in the Song Dynasty (960-1279), the Yang family had been celebrated for their military prowess and outstanding loyalty to the Emperor. Three generations of Yang Generals had led Chinese forces to victory over northern invaders; one eldest son had even ridden out from Wu Tai Mountain dressed as a decoy Emperor in order to save Song Taizhong from enemy pursuers.

But perhaps the most poignant loyalty story of the Yang family is that of the Lady Generals. The lady generals’ husbands had all been slaughtered after being betrayed by a traitor. With no military leaders left, the wives themselves rode into battle to avenge their husbands' deaths. Revered ever since, the story of the Yang Lady Generals is even the subject of a forthcoming film (summer 2011) by top director Ronnie Lee, starring Gong Li, Zhang Ziyi, Zhou Xun, Tang Wei and Michelle Yeoh.

Here on the jars the Lady Generals practice for battle, using bamboo rods in place of swords. Their fancy robes and sweet expressions - one even fixes her hair, her rod held in her teeth - would seem to belie the violence of their mission. Clearly by this period, some six centuries later, the legend has evolved from a grim story of revenge into a happy-ending tale of virtue.