Lot 43. An iron-red and underglaze-blue ‘dragon’ dish, Mark and period of Wanli (1573-1619). Estimate HKD 250,000 — 350,000 (28,223 - 39,512 EUR). Lot Sold 525,000 HKD (59,268 EUR). Photo: Sotheby's.

with shallow rounded sides resting on a tapered foot, the interior painted in iron red with a five-clawed dragon in frontal pose, the ferocious beast detailed with a flaming mane and menacing teeth, writhing amongst scrolling clouds above underglaze-blue cresting waves, all within a double-line border repeated at the rim, the exterior similarly decorated with eight further dragons in various poses above waves, inscribed to the base with a six-character reign mark within a double circle - 14.5 cm, 5 3/4  in.

Provenance: Collection of Edward T. Chow (1910-80), until 1967. 
Christie's London, 27th November 1967, lot 28 (380 gns). 
Bluett & Sons Ltd, London, 1967 (380 gns).
Collection of Roger Pilkington (1928-69), from 1967 (£399).

Note: The design of red dragons above underglaze blue waves was used at the imperial kilns in Jingdezhen since the early Ming dynasty, when mostly, however, underglaze copper red was employed, instead of overglaze iron red. Red enamel based on iron oxide, which required each vessel to be fired twice, the second time at a lower temperature, allowed for more precise designs with a brighter red tone than the temperamental copper red. The final result is impressive, with the two bright colours in sharp contrast with each other, as seen on this dish.

Two slightly larger dishes of this type in the Shanghai Museum, Shanghai, are illustrated in Lu Minghua, Shanghai Bowuguan zangpin yanjiu daxi/Studies of the Shanghai Museum Collections: A Series of Monographs. Mingdai guanyao ciqi [Ming imperial porcelain], Shanghai, 2007, pls. 1-104 and 1-105; one from the collection of Mary Clark Thompson and now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, is published in Suzanne G. Valenstein, A Handbook of Chinese Ceramics, New York, 1989, pl. 184; another in the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, was included in the exhibition Ming Porcelain. A Retrospective, China Institute in America, New York, 1970, cat. no. 59; a fourth dish, also from the collection of Edward T. Chow like the present piece, was sold in these rooms, 25th November 1980, lot 24, and a further example from the collection of Wilfred Evill, was sold in our London rooms, 30th November 1965, lot 45. Compare also a dish lacking the underglaze blue waves, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Miscellaneous Enamelled Porcelains. Plain Tricoloured Porcelains, Shanghai, 2009, pl. 6,

For an earlier version of this design, see a Longqing mark and period dish in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, published in Minji meihin zuroku [Illustrated catalogue of important Ming dynasty porcelains], Tokyo, 1977-8, vol. 3, pl. 57.