Lot 711. An exceptionally rare and superbly painted blue and white 'dragon and peony' jar, Yuan dynasty (1279-1368); d. 34.9  cm; h. 27 cm. Lot Sold 25,995,000 HKD (Estimate 4,000,000 - 8,000,000 HKD) © Sotheby's 2025

the sturdily-potted baluster body surmounted by a short straight neck with a subtly lipped rim, superbly painted around the body in vibrant cobalt blue with two main registers divided at the widest point of the vessel representing heaven and earth, the upper register decorated with a pair of four-clawed dragons soaring sinuously through the clouds, all between borders of cresting waves and stylised upright petals encircling the neck and lower body respectively, the broad foot ring and recessed base unglazed, Japanese wood boxes.

Provenance: Sotheby’s London, 15th April 1980, lot 233.

John Sparks Ltd., London.

Note: The present guan jar is an extraordinary relic from the birth of blue-and-white porcelain. Featuring a pair of resplendent dragons above a peony bloom viewed from six perspectives, the present jar is decorated in dramatic underglaze blue with an incredible precision and creative flair unparalleled in the centuries to follow.

Divided at its widest point, the jar tells two parallel stories of heaven and earth. Adorning the shoulder, whirling through the clouds, the present pair of dragons represents the rarest and most extraordinary feature of this jar. With four fearsome claws, fluttering hair unfurling from their scaly legs and gnarled antler-like horns, the present dragons are typical of the few dragon designs attested from this period of artistic experimentation but bolder and more dramatically rendered than most. Already long celebrated in the Chinese tradition as symbols of good fortune and power, Yuan dynasty dragons were rendered interchangeably with three and four claws and feature on but a select few iconic extant examples. Compare two related four-clawed dragons, alongside similar waves and peony scrolls, adorning the famous ‘David Vases’ dated in accordance with 1351, now preserved in the British Museum, London (accession nos PDF,B.613 and 614).

The lower ‘earthly’ section, depicting a peony bloom, represents one of the most beloved and well-attested designs for a jar of this type. Divided by richly ‘inked’ scrolling foliage, this peony appears to open and unfurl as the jar is rotated in one’s hand, in a conspicuous nod to the painted handscroll and a testament to the artistic freedom and brilliance of the early Jingdezhen potters. Compare a small number of similar and extraordinary jars featuring prominent peony designs, including a related jar, also from the collection of Sakamoto Gorō, sold for more than twenty-seven million Hong Kong dollars in these rooms, 29th October 2024, lot 613.

This playful design, largely abandoned by the mid-fifteenth century, underscores how groundbreaking the advent of cobalt must have been to the Yuan potters. Allowing artisans to apply decoration like ink on paper and embrace the brilliant white of the porcelain body as a canvas for their creativity, the arrival of cobalt pigments in China fundamentally changed the future of Chinese – and world – ceramics forever. While similar floral and dragon designs had developed in the preceding dynasties, moulded or carved in relief, this brave new world of delicate, variegated painting would soon become an obsession for the imperial court and potters alike, striving to produce the finest decorations in the most enchanting of blues. 

To date, no other jars of this dynamic dragon design appear to be known. Indeed, jars from this period featuring a dragon in any configuration are exceedingly rare. For similar guan featuring dragons at the shoulder above a peony scroll, compare a closely related damaged example with three-clawed dragons and a floral scroll to the neck, excavated from Jingdezhen in 1986 and preserved in the Palace Museum, Beijing in Porcelains of Yuan Dynasty Collected by the Palace Museum, vol. I, Beijing, 2016, pl. 6; a second very similar guan but for a chrysanthemum scroll at the neck and classic scroll below the peonies, reconstructed from shards in Zhang Qingyu, ed., Blue-and-White Porcelains of Yuan Dynasty, Beijing, 2017, p. 14; a larger handled jar with forward- and backward-looking dragons, excavated from the Gao’an Hoard (dated no earlier than 1314 CE), included in Splendors in Smalt. Art of Yuan Blue-and-White Porcelain, Shanghai Museum, Shanghai, 2012, pl. 61; another larger example of related design sold at Christie's Tokyo, 27 May 1969, lot 179, later in the Ataka Collection, illustrated in The Panoramic Views of Chinese Patterns, Japan, 1985, col. pl. 9; and another with four-clawed dragons separated from peonies by ruyi-shaped lappets, preserved in the Ottoman Court and illustrated in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics in the Topkapi Saray Museum, vol. II, London, 1986, pl. 586.

Lot 705. A rare polychrome-enamelled 'phoenix' bowl, Mark and period of Longqing (1567); 21.7 cm. Lot Sold 1,079,500 HKD (Estimate 50,000 - 100,000 HKD) © Sotheby's 2025

with deep rounded sides rising from a short foot to a flared rim, the exterior painted with two phoenix soaring amidst lotus scrolls, the interior encircled around the inner rim with a band of overlapping petal motifs, encircling a central cloud motif incised in the centre, the base with an inscription dating to the first year of the Longqing period (corresponding with 1567), Japanese wood box.

Provenance: Sotheby's Los Angeles, 2nd November 1981, lot 307.

Lot 708. A blue and white lobed 'fruit and flower' bowl, Qing dynasty, Kangxi period, Xuande mark; 22.7 cm. Lot Sold 101,600 HKD (Estimate 20,000 - 40,000 HKD) © Sotheby's 2025

the conical sides rising from short foot to a six-lobed lobed rim, the interior painted with a medallion enclosing a flowering and fruiting peach branch, surrounded by six floral sprigs, all between a border of floral sprigs encircling the inner rim, the exterior with six fruiting sprays above six floral sprays, all above a classical scroll band around the foot, the base inscribed with an apocryphal Xuande mark, Japanese wood box.

Note: Fruit and flower sprays symbolising prosperity were popular designs of the early Ming dynasty (1368-1644). Bowls of this lobed form appear to be specific to the Xuande reign (1426-1435) and became part of the classic repertoire of the official kilns. The shape is derived from conical bowls with six delicate rim lobes glazed in monochrome white, which had been produced at Jingdezhen during the Song dynasty (960-1279). Tailored to the imperial taste, products of the Xuande workshops were exquisitely finished and inscribed with the imperial reign mark. Bowls of this design continued to be admired in the subsequent centuries, and it was frequently copied in the Kangxi (1662-1722) and Yongzheng (1723-1735) periods.

A close copy of the early Ming dynasty design, attributed to the Kangxi period, is preserved in the Beijing Palace Museum collection and illustrated in Geng Baochang, ed., Gugong Bowuyuan cang Ming chu qinghua ci/Early Ming blue-and-white porcelain in the Palace Museum, vol. 2, Beijing, 2002, pl. 179, together with a Xuande prototype from the Qing Court Collection, pl. 146.

Sotheby's. Chinese Art through the Eye of Sakamoto Gorō: A Selection II,  Hong Kong, 17 April - 7 May 2025