Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art, 7 November 2017, London
A blue-ground yellow-enamelled 'Dragon' dish, Qianlong six-character seal mark in underglaze blue and of the period (1736-1795)
Lot 84. A blue-ground yellow-enamelled 'Dragon' dish, Qianlong six-character seal mark in underglaze blue and of the period (1736-1795). 9 7/8 in. (25 cm.) diam. Estimate GBP 40,000 - GBP 60,000. Price realised GBP 100,000 © Christie's Images Ltd 2017.
The dish is decorated to the interior with a five-clawed dragon chasing a flaming pearl, leaping amongst ruyi-head clouds and flames. The shallow, rounded sides rise to a slightly everted rim and are painted with two similar dragons in pursuit. Two further dragons are decorated to the exterior, above a petal-lappet band enclosing the base.
Provenance: From the collection of James and Phyllis Rosati, acquired between 1947 and 1949, when Mr. Rosati was stationed in Japan.
With Marchant, London, Imperial Chinese Porcelain, Ceramics and Works of Art, 2013, no. 32
The Collection of Professor Stephen Charles Wallace, FInstP, and Dr. Geraldine Kenney-Wallace, RSC, FInstP.
Note: This design and colour combination appears to be based on porcelains from the Kangxi period, such as the dish illustrated in Mayuyama, Seventy Years, vol. I, Tokyo, 1976, no. 1047, p. 349. A similar dish is illustrated by Shincho Kogei No Bi, New York, 1995, pl. 126, p. 45 or by Qian Weipeng in Tian Wu Guan Cang Ci, Shanghai, 2011, vol 1, pp. 198/9.
Another Qianlong mark-and-period dish with similar design was sold at Christie's New York, 17-18 March 2016, lot 1600.
A yellow-glazed blue-ground 'Dragon' dish, Qianlong six-character seal mark in underglaze blue and of the period (1736-1795). 9 7/8 in. (25 cm.) diam. Sold for 35,000 USD at Christie's New York, 17-18 March 2016, lot 1600. © Christie's Images Ltd 2016.