Lot 108. A large Longquan celadon charger, 14th century; 33.5cm diam. Estimate HK$80,000 - 160,000. Sold for HK$ 100,000 (€9,459). Photo: Bonhams 2014.

Thickly potted with shallow rounded sides, the centre of the interior decorated with a biscuit-fired dragon in high relief that has burnt orange-red, the cavetto with a band of radiating lobes, covered overall in an olive-green glaze. 

Note: The technique of either leaving unglazed areas to be biscuit-fired, or applying a cut-out design on top of the glaze before firing, creating a 'floating relief' design, appears on many published examples. Compare with a charger, also decorated with a dragon to the interior but with biscuit-fired flowers at the mouth rim, in the collection of the Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul, illustrated in Chinese Ceramics in the Topkapi Saray Museum, Vol.I, p.211, pl.109.

See also a Longquan charger, 14th century, with a very similar biscuit-fired dragon, sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 30 April 2001, lot 652.

Bonhams. FINE CHINESE CERAMICS AND WORKS OF ART. Hong Kong, Admiralty, 26 May 2014 14:00 HKT