Lot 3668. A pair of incised yellow-glazed 'dragon and phoenix' bowls, Marks and period of Yongzheng (1723-1735); 10.1 cm., 4 in. Estimate 1,000,000 — 1,200,000  HKD. Lot sold 1,250,000 HKD (148,574 EUR).  © Sotheby's

each delicately potted with deep rounded sides rising from a short foot to an everted rim, the exterior incised in precise detail with a phoenix and a five-clawed dragon soaring amidst ruyi-shaped clouds, covered overall in a warm yellow glaze, the interior left white, the base inscribed in underglaze blue with a six-character reign mark within a double-circle.

Provenance: Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 11th May 1983, lot 134.
S. Marchant & Son, London.

Notes: The present pair of bowls, delicately potted with thin walls and skilfully incised in the anhua technique, is covered with a lustrous glaze of a warm yellow tone pleasing to the eye. The iron-based yellow glaze, which requires low to medium firing temperature, first appeared in the Yongle period and continued to be highly valued throughout the Qing dynasty. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, apart from ritual ceremonies, the use of yellow-glazed vessels was restricted to the imperial family only. In particular, this type of porcelains with a yellow-glazed exterior and a white interior was reserved for the senior concubines, as recorded in Guochao gongshi [Court History] compiled in the early Qianlong period, where the exact amount of various types of vessels allowed was specified.

Incised patterns of dragon and phoenix amidst clouds are not uncommon on Qing porcelains, but similar Yongzheng-marked yellow-glazed bowls with this anhua motif are however very rare and only a few examples are recorded. A bowl of the same size and pattern was included in the Oriental Ceramic Society exhibition The Arts of the Ch'ing Dynasty, London, 1965, cat. no. 292. A comparable pair from the Herschel V. Johnson Collection was sold in our London rooms, 21st February 1967, lot 81. Another example was sold in Christie’s New York, 20th September 2005, lot 378. A slightly larger bowl from the Baur Collection is illustrated in John Ayers, The Baur Collection, vol. III, Geneva, 1972, pl. A 449 and again in Sekai tōji zenshū/Ceramic Art of the World, vol. 15, Tokyo, 1983, p. 196, pl. 258.

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