Lot 3641. A fine and rare tianbai anhua-decorated 'dragon' bowl, Qing dynasty, Kangxi period (1662-1722); 12.5 cm, 4 ⅞ in.. Estimate 200,000 - 300,000 HKD. Lot sold 302,400 HKD.  Courtesy Sotheby's.

delicately potted and carved in anhua with two scaly five-clawed dragons in pursuit of flaming pearls amongst flames, the underside with a four-character Yongle mark.

Provenance: Collection of Mrs Clayton W. Miller, donated to the Art Institute of Chicago prior to 1946, inventory no. 46.460.

Note: Two prototypes of the current bowl in National Palace Museum, Taipei, are included in the Museum’s exhibition Pleasingly Pure and Lustrous. Porcelains from the Yongle Reign (1403-1424) of the Ming Dynasty, Taipei, 2017, pp. 36-37.