A fine and rare blue and white 'Dragon' tazza, Mark and period of Yongzheng. Estimate 2,000,000 — 3,000,000  HKD. Unsold. Photo courtesy Sotheby's

of circular form with shallow slightly rounded sides supported on a tall splayed hollow stem, painted around the sides with a band of interlinked foliate strapwork within line borders, the stem superbly decorated in shaded tones of cobalt-blue with a five-clawed dragon depicted striding in pursuit of the flaming pearl above waves breaking on jagged rockwork, the interior of the stem inscribed in underglaze blue with a horizontal six-character reign mark; 22.5 cm., 8 7/8  in.

Provenance: Sotheby's Hong Kong, 16th May 1989, lot 249.

Notes: Blue and white tazza (gaozu pan) of this powerful auspicious design, painted with a five-clawed dragon emblematic of the emperor, are frequently found in the Kangxi and Qianlong period, but it is extremely rare to find one with a Yongzheng reign mark. This appears to be the only recorded example. 

For Kangxi reign-marked examples, see the tazza in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, included in the Illustrated Catalogue of Ch'ing Dynasty Porcelain in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, vol. 1, 1980, pl. 15, and an example offered in these rooms, 2nd May 1995, lot 60. For Qianlong reign-marked examples, see one illustrated in Beauty of Ceramics, vol.3: Blue and White Porcelain, Taipei, 1993, pl. 153, and an example sold in our New York rooms, 22nd March 1999, lot 395.

Sotheby's. Important Chinese Works of Art, Hong Kong, 07 avr. 2015