Lot 3154. A set of six small underglaze blue and yellow-glazed 'Dragon' bowls, Daoguang six-character seal marks in underglaze blue and of the period (1821-1850); 4 1/8 in. (10.3 cm.) diam. Estimate $30,000 – $50,000. Price realised USD 62,500. © Christie's Image Ltd 2015

The bowls have rounded sides rising to a slightly flaring rim and are decorated on the exterior with two five-clawed dragons striding through flame-scrolls in pursuit of flaming pearls above a band of overlapping lotus petals rising from the foot, all highlighted in yellow glaze against the deep cobalt blue ground. The interior is similarly decorated with a further dragon in a central medallion.

Note: A nearly identical pair of Daoguang-marked 'dragon' bowls was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 28 May 2014, lot 3479. Compare, also, to a Yongzheng-marked bowl with similar decoration in the Qing Court collection illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum- Miscellaneous Enamelled Porcelains and Plain Tricoloured Porcelains, Shanghai, 2009, p. 80, no. 64.

Christie's. FINE CHINESE CERAMICS AND WORKS OF ART, 15 - 16 March 2015, New York, Rockefeller Plaza