Lot 816. An exceptional large wucai 'dragon' dish, Mark and period of Wanli (1573-1619). (1573-1619). (1573-1619). Estimate 300,000 — 500,000 HKD. Lot sold 687,500 HKD. Photo: Sotheby's.

robustly potted and brightly enamelled to the interior with two dragons reaching for a 'flaming pearl' amidst flames and ruyi-shaped clouds, the cavetto similarly decorated with further pairs of confronted dragons, the exterior with large floral blooms borne on a meandering scroll, the base inscribed with a six-character reign mark - 38.1 cm, 15 in.

Notes: Vigorously painted with five-clawed dragons chasing flaming pearls, this dish is remarkable for its large size. Compare a similar unmarked dish of this, in the Idemitsu Museum of Arts, Tokyo, illustrated in Chinese Ceramics of the Idemitsu Collection, Tokyo, 1987, pl. 758. A slightly smaller Wanli mark and period dish of this design was sold in our London rooms, 9th June 1992, lot 245; and another was sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 7th October 2015, lot 3667.

This dragon motif is also found rendered in underglaze blue on Wanli mark and period dishes of similar proportions; see one in the Idemitsu Museum of Arts, Tokyo, illustrated in Chinese Ceramics of the Idemitsu Collection, ibid., pl. 725; and another, from the collection of Kwong Yee Che Tong, included in the exhibition The Fame of Flame. Imperial Wares of the Jaijing and Wanli Periods, Art Gallery, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 2009, cat. no. 85.

Sotheby's. Chinese Art, Hong Kong, 02 Jun 2016