A Rare Ming-Style Doucai Jar And A Cover. Yongzheng Six-Character Mark In Underglaze Blue Within A Double Circle And Of
The Period (1723-1735). photo Christie's Ltd 2011

The jar with high-shouldered tapering body painted in underglaze blue with two three-clawed dragons striding amidst green clouds between petal lappet borders, the flat top of the cover with a green five-clawed dragon leaping amidst iron-red flames within a blue line border above a band of further petal lappets on the sides; 3 7/8 in. (10 cm.) high - Estimate $100,000 - $150,000. Price Realized $506,500

Provenance: N.H.P. Huth Collection; Sotheby's, London, 26 April 1966, lot 132.
W.W. Winkworth Collection; Sotheby's, London, 12 December 1971, lot 119.
Hugh Moss Ltd., London, 1972.

Notes: Archaism was popular in the ceramics made for the Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong Emperors, and often great efforts were made to copy glazes, forms and decoration from earlier periods. In this example, the Qing potters found inspiration in the exquisite, subtle doucai enamels of the Chenghua period, such as the jar and cover of very similar design illustrated in A Legacy of Chenghua: Imperial Porcelain of the Chenghua Reign Excavated from Zhushan, Jingdezhen, The Tsui Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1993, p. 311, no. C111. A virtually identical Yongzheng-marked jar, with a cover of different design, in the Qing Court collection, is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - 38 - Porcelains in Polychrome and Contrasting Colours, Hong Kong, 1999, p. 233, no. 214. (Fig. 1)

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art Part I & II,  15 - 16 September 2011. New York, Rockefeller Plaza. www.christies.com