Lot 28. An extemely rare ochre-yellow incised  'dragon' vase, Incised seal mark and period of Qianlong (1736-1795); 30.5 cm., 12 in. Estimate 7,000,000 - 9,000,000 HKD. Lot sold 9,380,000 HKD. Photo Sotheby's 2012.

of elegant baluster form, the sides rising from a recessed base to a wide rounded angular shoulder and a tall waisted neck with a flared rim, finely incised around the body with a dense design of five five-clawed dragons, one curling round the neck, one in a frontal view at the shoulder, two in different poses around the main part of the body, and the fifth emerging from crested waves at the base heading towards a 'flaming pearl', all surrounded by bats, clouds and flames, below a ruyi border at the rim, the piece covered overall with a rich ochre-yellow glaze, applied on the biscuit, the base similarly glazed and incised with a six-character seal mark. 

Provenance: Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Earl Morse.
S. Marchant & Son, London.
J.J. Lally & Co., New York

Exhibited: Dragons in Chinese Art, China House Gallery, China Institute in America, New York, 1972, cat. no. 59.

Literature: Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, London, 1994-2010, vol. 4, no. 1822.

Note: The elegantly shaped vase appears to be unique, the ochre-yellow colour of the glaze is very unusual, and yellow glazes in general are extremely rarely seen on vases, being almost exclusively used for bowls and dishes.

A vase of different form, covered with a very similar yellow glaze and similarly decorated with incised dragons, but with a Jiaqing reign mark, from the Huaihaitang collection, was included in the exhibition Ethereal Elegance. Porcelain Vases of the Imperial Qing. The Huaihaitang Collection, The Art Museum, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 2007-8, cat. no. 55.

Sotheby's. The Meiyintang Collection, Part IV - An Important Selection of Imperial Chinese Porcelains, Hong Kong, 09 oct. 2012