Christie's. Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, Hong Kong, 26 November 2014
A very rare doucai 'Dragon' dish, Qianlong six-character seal mark and of the period (1736-1795)
Lot 3304. A very rare doucai 'Dragon' dish, Qianlong six-character seal mark and of the period (1736-1795); 7 7/8 in. (20.1 cm.) diam. Estimate HKD 1,500,000 - HKD 2,600,000. Price realised HKD 1,720,000. © Christie's Image Ltd 2014.
The dish is decorated with underglaze blue outlines and overglaze enamels in doucai style, on the interior with a central medallion containing a writhing five-clawed dragon chasing an iron red flaming pearl amidst clouds and five colourful extended clouds on the cavetto, the exterior with multi-coloured clouds and cresting waves, stand, Japanese wood box.
Provenance: The Manno Art Museum Collection
Sold at Christie's London, 21 June 2001, lot 103
Note: A slightly smaller Yongzheng doucai dish of this design was sold at Christie's Hong Kong in October 1990, lot 505, and a pair of Yongzheng doucai saucer dishes with this design were also sold at Christie's Hong Kong in March 1991, lot 592.
Another slightly smaller Yongzheng doucai example is in the collection of the Hong Kong Museum of Art, published in The Wonders of the Potter's Palette: Qing Ceramics from the Collection of the Hong Kong Museum of Art, 1984, no. 45, while a pair from a private Hong Kong collection is illustrated in The Min Chiu Society Anthology of Chinese Art, pl. 175.