Lot 3318. A very rare large blue and white 'dragon' basin, Jiajing six-character mark in underglaze blue in a line and of the period (1522-1566). Estimate HK$500,000 – HK$800,000 ($64,669 - $103,470). Photo Christie's Image Ltd 2016.

The basin is sturdily potted with deep walls flaring slightly towards the galleried rim, painted in deep tones of blue on the exterior with two striding five-clawed dragons amidst scrolling lotus. The interior is covered with a clear glaze. The base is unglazed. 20 5/8 in. (52.3 cm.) diam.

Provenance: A Japanese family collection, acquired in the 1930s, and thence by descent within the family

Notes: The present basin is superbly painted rendered in vibrant shades of deep violet-blue. The same motif of dragons striding through scrolling lotus could be found on a number of Jiajing-marked basins of a different form that are much shorter and wider, such as one sold at Christie's Paris, 7 December 2007, lot 127, and another one sold at Sotheby's New York, 23 November 2004, lot 640. The combination of this motif and the form of a narrow tall basin on the present example is extremely rare, and is more commonly seen amongst Wanli examples, such as an almost identical blue and white basin of the same size and decoration, but with a Wanli reign mark, illustrated in Mayuyama, Seventy Years, vol. 1, Tokyo, 1976, no. 970 (fig. 1); and another one in the National Museum of Indonesia Collection, illustrated in Toyo Toji, vol. 3, Japan, 1981, no. 225. Another Wanli-marked basin, also of similar form and painted with a striding dragon in underglaze blue, but enamelled in yellow and outlined in blue with lingzhi scrolls, was sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 23 October 2005, lot 453.

fig. 1 A Wanli-marked basin illustrated in Mayuyama, Seventy Years, vol. 1, Tokyo, 1976, no. 970

Christie's. THE IMPERIAL SALE / IMPORTANT CHINESE CERAMICS & WORKS OF ART, 1 June 2016, Convention Hall