A fine and extremely rare wucai 'Dragon and Phoenix' bowl, Yongzheng six-character mark in underglaze blue within a double circle and of the period (1723-1735). Estimate HK$3,000,000 - HK$5,000,000 ($390,000 - $650,000). Price Realized HK$7,240,000 ($937,616). Photo Christie's Image Ltd 2015

The bowl is enamelled on the exterior with two dragons amidst flower sprays chasing flaming pearls divided by two descending phoenixes below a narrow band of alternating double-fish and chimes interspersed with Shou characters at the mouth. The interior is decorated with a dragon chasing a flaming pearl amidst flame scrolls. 5 7/8 in. (15 cm.) diam., box 

Provenance: The Paul and Helen Bernat Collection of Important Qing
Imperial Porcelain and Works of Art, sold at Sothebys Hong Kong, 15 November 1988, lot 28
Sold at Sothebys Hong Kong, 26 October 1993, lot 139
Marchant, London
European private collection 

Exhibited: London, Important Chinese Porcelain from Private Collections,
Marchant, 2012, p. 67, no. 27 

Notes: Yongzheng-marked bowls of this design are extremely rare. Compare to a similar Yongzheng-marked example gifted by the B.Y. Lam Foundation to the Art Gallery, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, illustrated in Qing Imperial Porcelain of the Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong Reigns, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1995, no. 53.
The Art Gallery bowl is designed with a different type of floral bloom to the present bowl as well as ruyi-heads within the bajixiang band below the mouth rim. The current bowl has be-ribboned Shou medallions within a band under the mouth rim. Another Yongzheng-marked bowl of this pattern but with more pronounced tapering sides, from the same Bernat Collection, was sold at Sothebys Hong Kong, 15 November 1988, lot 27. 

CHRISTIE'S. THE IMPERIAL SALE & IMPORTANT CHINESE CERAMICS AND WORKS OF ART, 3 June 2015, Convention Hall