Heavily potted with rounded sides, the walls painted in deep underglaze blue with two dragons chasing a flaming pearl amid clouds, the six character mark also in underglaze blue on the face of the rim. 

Property from the Currier Museum of Art, Manchester, New Hampshire.

Provenance: Gift of Mr. and Mrs Eugene Bernat, 1958, 1960.

Note: The present lot is impressive for its lively decoration of a pair of dragons. The way one dragon is portrayed looking over its back towards the other dragon, creates a sense of interaction between the dragons and heightens the sense of vivacity. The large size of the bowl makes possible the considerable amount of white space in the decoration which gives the composition room to breathe and adds to the sense of motion. Such large pieces were difficult to fire without cracking and warping and are testament to the technical virtuosity of the Jingdezhen potters of the late Ming period. 

The present lot follows Jiajing period examples such as the ones sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 28 Nov 2009, lot 324; and our London rooms, 6 Nov 2008, lot 67.

A monumental blue and white porcelain 'dragon' fish bowl, Jiajing mark and of the period (1522 – 1566); 74.5cm (29¼in) diam. Sold for HK$ 348,000 (€ 35,795) at Bonhams Hong Kong, 28 Nov 2009, lot 324. © Bonhams 2001-2009

Bonhams. CHINESE WORKS OF ART AND PAINTINGS, 19 Mar 2018, 12:00 EDT, NEW YORK