Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art, New York, 22 March 2007
A rare large doucai meiping, Yongzheng period (1723-1735)
Lot 345. A rare large doucai meiping, Yongzheng period (1723-1735); 16¼ in. (41.2 cm.) high. Estimate USD 30,000 - USD 50,000. Price realised USD 240,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2007
The sides well painted with a green five-clawed dragon and a mauve-bodied dancing phoenix shown amidst leafy peony meander bearing blossoms in various stages of fullness and in tones of yellow, pale aubergine, iron red and pale blue-green, between a band of petal lappets below and a yellow ruyi head collar on the shoulder above, the waisted neck encircled by a band of upright green leaf tips.
Provenance: Yamanaka & Company, Inc., New York.
Literature: Collection of Chinese and Other Far Eastern Art, Yamanaka & Company, Inc., New York, 1943, no. 1221 (where it was dated Yongzheng period).
Exhibited: On loan: Birmingham Museum of Art, Alabama, 1995 - 2006.
Note: A comparable doucai meiping of the same size, also decorated with a dragon and phoenix amidst foliate scroll above a lappet border, and with a cover, in the Qing Court Collection, is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - 38 - Porcelains in Polychrome and Contrasting Colours, Hong Kong, 1999, p. 259, no. 237.