Lot 86. An iron-decorated white porcelain jar, Joseon Dynasty (17th century), 14 5/8 in. (37.1 cm.) high. Estimate USD 70,000 - USD 90,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2017

The ovoid form with high shoulder with recessed base, painted in underglaze iron-brown with a long undulating dragon chasing a large flaming pearl among scattered scalloped clouds, eyes and random scales of the dragon reddish-brown, applied with a glossy clear glaze and with extensive crackle, foot rim unglazed

Note: Virtually unique to Korea, large, broad-shouldered, narrow-waisted jars were ubiquitous there from the seventeenth into the nineteenth century. Early examples have a short, vertical, collar-like neck and an exaggerated profile, with bulging shoulders and a constricted waist; nineteenth-century examples show a more attenuated profile and sport a tall neck and a beveled foot. In China and Korea, the dragon symbolizes the yang, or male, principle of nature, while the phoenix represents the yin, or female, principle. Associated with water, the auspicious dragon is typically paired with clouds, mists, or rolling waves; on this jar, the vigorously painted dragon determinedly strides above rolling clouds. Although they often painted designs in underglaze iron brown on Cizhou and Jizhou wares during the Song dynasty (960–1279), Chinese potters seldom, if ever, decorated porcelains in underglaze iron brown; by contrast, Korean potters of the Joseon dynasty (1392–1910) often embellished porcelains with dynamic, and sometimes whimsical, design emblazoned in underglaze iron brown. A closely related jar appears in the collection of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts (81.113.6) and another in the National Museum of Korea, Seoul, both dated to the eighteenth century.