Lot 225. A Yixing molded 'Dragon' bowl, Qing dynasty, 18th century, signed Chen Jinhou. Diameter 7 7/8  in., 20 cm. Estimate 5,000 — 7,000 USD. Lot sold 52,500 USD. Photo: Sotheby's.

the rounded sides molded with five raised oval medallions of a dragon amid clouds, below a band of stylizedshou characters encircling the rim, the buff colored clay flecked with reddish-brown slip, the base impressed with a seal reading Chen Jinhou zhi (made by Chen Jinhou). 

Provenance: Gerard Hawthorn Ltd., London, 1997.

Bibliography: Oriental Works of Art, Gerard Hawthorn Ltd., London, 9th - 22nd June 1997, no. 11.

Notes: Some sources cite the birth year for Chen Jinhou as approximately 1702 and put his death at 1765, while other sources such as K.S. Lo in The Stonewares of Yixing from the Ming Period to the Present Day, Hong Kong, 1986, p. 264, cite him as being active from 1736 till 1795. Some of his works are therefore ascribed to the Yongzheng period, while others to Qianlong.

For similar bowls by Chen Jinhou ascribed to the Qianlong period, see one from the Mr. and Mrs. Gerard Hawthorn Collection sold at Bonham's Hong Kong, 28th November 2011, lot 215; and another from the Robert H. Blumenfield Collection sold at Christie's New York, 22nd March 2012, lot 2648. Another example of his work, this one carved with lotus petals and dated to the Qing dynasty, is illustrated in Yixing Zisha Wares in the Palace Museum, Beijing, 2009, p. 252, pl. 156; and another withchilong decoration dated to the 18th century is illustrated in K.S. Lo, op. cit., no. 169.

Sotheby's. Important Chinese Art, New York, 15 sept. 2015