Lot 3052. A pair of fine blue and white and iron-red 'Dragon' dishes, Seal marks and period of Qianlong (1736-1795);1 7.8 cm., 7 in. Estimate 500,000 — 700,000 HKD. Lot sold 750,000 HKD. Photo: Sotheby's.

each with shallow rounded sides rising from a small slightly tapered foot to an everted rim, decorated on the interior with a central medallion enclosing an iron-red five-clawed dragon writhing above turbulent waves deftly painted in contrasting underglaze blue, all within a double-line border repeated at the rim, the exterior similarly decorated with nine dragons in shades of iron red, each depicted in a different pose writhing above a blue tempestuous sea, between a band af alternating half-florets at the rim and double lines encircling the foot, the base inscribed in underglaze blue with a six-character seal mark.

Provenance: The Songzhutang Collection.