Lot 1568. A large blue and white 'dragon' dish, Wanli six-character mark in underglaze blue within a double circle and of the period (1573-1619); 5 1/8 in. (38.4 cm.) diam. Estimate USD 30,000 - USD 50,000. Price realised USD 100,000. © Christie's Image Ltd 2020.
The dish is decorated in the center with two confronted, five-clawed dragons writhing amidst flames and clouds in pursuit of a flaming pearl below two pairs of further dragons chasing flaming pearls in the well. The exterior is decorated with a band of lotus scroll, cloth box.
Provenance: Property of the Commonwealth of Virginia, 303201.
Sotheby Parke Bernet Inc., New York, 6 November 1981, lot 266.
The Lenora and Walter F. Brown Collection, San Antonio, Texas.
Literature: Amy Lewis Hofland and Shiyuan Yuan, Texas Collects Asia, Dallas, 2008, p. 169, no. 52.
Exhibited: Dallas, The Trammell & Margaret Crow Collection of Asian Art, Texas Collects Asia, 12 July-28 September 2008, no. 52.
Note: An almost identical Wanli dish of comparable size in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - 38 - Porcelains in Polychrome and Contrasting Colours, Hong Kong, 1999, no. 50. Another nearly identical Wanli dish is illustrated in Illustrated Catalogues of Tokyo National Museum: Chinese Ceramics, Tokyo, 1965, p. 130, no. 536. A smaller (9 3/8 in. diam.) Wanli wucai 'dragon and phoenix’ dish from the Art Institute of Chicago was sold at Christie’s New York, 12 September, 2019 lot 709.
Christie's. Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, New York, 25 September 2020
