Lot 3678. A pair of iron-red and underglaze-blue 'dragon' bowls , marks and period of Kangxi (1662-1722), 18.8 cm, 7 3/8  in. Estimate 600,000 — 800,000 HKD. Lot sold 2,000,000 HKD. Photo: Sotheby's.

each finely potted with deep rounded sides rising from a straight foot to a flared rim, the exterior decorated with eight iron-red dragons coiling in different postures, against a neatly arranged ground of tempestuous waves rendered in underglaze blue, below a band of interlinked circular motifs bordering the rim, the interior similarly rendered with a medallion enclosing an iron-red dragon coiling against an underglaze-blue ground of waves, the base inscribed in underglaze blue with a six-character reign mark within a double circle.

Note: Compare a closely related bowl in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures in the Palace Museum. Miscellaneous Enamelled Porcelains Plain Tricolour Porcelains, Shanghai, 2009, pl. 146; and two sold in these rooms, the first, 30th October 2002, lot 289, and the second, 25th April 2004, lot 306.