Lot 438. A cloisonné enamel 'dragon' moonflask, Ming dynasty, 16th century; 29.8cm., 11 7/8 in. Estimate 20,000 — 30,000 GBP. Lot sold 37,250 GBP. © Sotheby's.

the flattened circular body rising from a straight foot to a cylindrical neck, flanked by a pair of ruyi handles, brightly decorated to the front and back with a sinuous dragon amongst meandering lotus scrolls, all reserved on a turquoise ground, the handles with stylised ruyi clouds.

Provenance: A French Private Collection.

Note: A very similar moonflask from the Robert H. Clague Collection was included in the exhibition Chinese Cloisonné. The Clague Collection, Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, 1980, cat. no. 12; and another from the Reid Collection was included in the exhibition Antique Chinese Cloisonné, Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Victoria, 1983, cat. no. 11.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art, London, 7 November 2012