Lot 21. A fine aubergine 'dragon' bowl, Mark and period of Kangxi (1662-1722); 15.1 cm., 5 7/8 in. Estimate 400,000—600,000 HKD. Lot Sold 1,580,000 HKD. Photo Sotheby's 2011

finely potted with rounded sides flaring at the rim and resting on a straight foot, incised on the outside with two five-clawed dragons chasing flaming pearls among flames and clouds and above rocks and waves, with a key-fret border at the foot, the inside and base glazed white, the latter inscribed with the six-character mark within a double circle

Literature: Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, London, 1994-2010, vol. 2, no. 890.

Note: Aubergine 'dragon' bowls are already known from the late Ming period and were produced throughout the Qing dynasty, and are also known with Yongzheng, Qianlong, Daoguang, Guangxu and Tongzhi reign marks. A rare example of Wanli mark and period is in the Palace Museum, Beijing, with a similar incised design but executed in the style of the late Ming dynasty, illustrated in Zhongguo meishu quanji. Gongyi meishu bian: Taoci [Complete series on Chinese art. Arts and crafts section: Ceramics], Shanghai, 1988-91, vol. 3, pl. 125. A similar Kangxi bowl in the Roemer-Museum, Hildesheim, Germany, is illustrated in Ulrich Wiesner, Chinesisches Porzellan. Die Ohlmer'sche Sammlung im Roemer-Museum, Hildesheim, Mainz, 1981, cat. no. 101; another from the R.E.R. Luff Will Trust was sold in our London rooms, 26th June 1073, lot 33.

Sotheby's. The Meiyintang Collection - An Important Selection of Imperial Chinese Porcelains, 07 Apr 11, Hong Kong