Lot 1242. A Yixing molded 'Dragon' bowl, signed Chen Jinghou, Qianlong period (1736-1795); 7¾ in. (19.7 cm.) diam. Estimate $30,000 - $50,000. Price Realized $98,500. © Christie's Images Ltd 2012

With deep rounded sides flaring somewhat at the rim and molded in crisp relief with five dragon and cloud roundels below a band of shou characters at the rim, the yellowish-beige stoneware speckled allover in red slip, with a four-character zhuanshu seal, Chen Jinghou, stamped in relief on the base.

Provenance: Christie's, Hong Kong, 17 January 1989, lot 875. 

Note: Chen Jinghou was a potter active during the Qianlong period, and K.S. Lo in The Stonewares of Yixing from the Ming Period to the Present Day, Hong Kong, 1986, p. 264, records him as such. For another example of his work see the bowl carved with lotus petals illustrated in Yixing Zisha Wares in the Palace Museum, Beijing, 2009, p. 252, pl. 156, where it is dated Qing dynasty. 

A very similar bowl with the same mark illustrated in Oriental Works of Art, Gerard Hawthorn Ltd., London, 9 - 22 June 1997, no. 11, where it is dated 18th century, was subsequently sold from the Mr. and Mrs. Gerard Hawthorn Collection at Bonham's, Hong Kong, 28 November 2011, lot 215, where it was dated to the Qianlong period.

Christie's. Auspicious Treasures for Scholars and Emperors: Selections from the Robert H. Blumenfield Collection, 22 March 2012, New York, Rockefeller Plaza