A blue and white 'phoenix and dragon' bowl, Mark and period of Yongzheng (1723-1735)
Lot 146. A blue and white 'phoenix and dragon' bowl, Mark and period of Yongzheng (1723-1735). Diameter 7⅝ in., 19.4 cm. Estimate: 40,000 - 60,000 USD. Lot sold: 94,500 USD. © Sotheby's 2021
the deep rounded sides divided into four lobes, rising from a straight foot to an everted rim, the exterior painted with four panels variously enclosing dragons in pursuit of a 'flaming pearl' and phoenix in flight amidst scrolling clouds, the interior similarly decorated with a central quatrefoil medallion enclosing a phoenix amongst clouds, the rim encircled on both sides by a band of crashing waves with florets, the foot with a band of scrolls, the base with a six-character mark within a double circle in underglaze blue.
Property from the Estate of Virginia Brame Story.
Provenance: Sotheby Parke Bernet, New York, 12th-13th March 1975, lot 374.
Note: See two closely related examples, one in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, (acc. no. 598A-1907), and the other in the Koger Collection, illustrated in John Ayers, Chinese Ceramics: The Koger Collection, New York, 1985, pl. 95. See also a similarly decorated doucai example, sold in our London rooms, 6th November 2013, lot 175.
Sotheby's. Important Chinese Art, New York, 21 September 2021