Lot 20. The Au Bak Ling Collection. A fine gilt-decorated enamelled and moulded 'dragon' vase, Tianqiuping, Guangxu period (1875-1908); 23.5 cm high. Price realised HKD 756,000 (Estimate HKD 500,000-800,000). © Christie's Images Ltd 2024.

The vase has a compressed globular body decorated in high relief with a moulded sinuous, five-clawed dragon enamelled in iron-red with details picked out in gilt depicted coiled around the vase amidst gold-outlined clouds in pursuit of a golden flaming pearl. The dragon blows vapour towards three iron-red carp seen amidst the froth-capped waves that encircle the bottom of the vase.

Note: The decoration on this rare vase is unusual in two aspects. First, the level of relief moulding is unusually high, and second, it depicts three carp in the band of waves at the bottom. Bottle vases with dragons moulded in high relief were first produced at Jingdezhen during the Yongzheng period, such as the vase bearing a Yongzheng mark sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 23 May 1978, lot 163, in the Au Bak Ling Collection, with moulded dragon decorated in polychrome enamels and gilding, reserved on a black-enamel ground. Less elaborate versions of this design, with gilt-highlighted iron-red dragons with black pupils pursuing a golden flaming pearl amidst clouds, are found on other Guangxu wares. Such a dragon can be seen on a large Guangxu-marked dish (34.5 cm. diam.) illustrated by Gunhild Avitabile in From the Dragon’s Treasure, London, 1987, p. 89, no. 123.