Lot 1132. A rare underglaze-blue ground iron-red and yellow-enamelled quatrefoil ‘Dragon’ washer, Longqing six-character mark in underglaze blue within a double circle and of the period (1567-1572); 13 cm diam., box. Price realised HKD 3,048,000 (Estimate HKD 1,200,000 – HKD 2,800,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

Provenance: Acquired from Mr. Yang Yongde, 13 May 1983, Hong Kong

The Tianminlou Collection

Sold at China Guardian, The Tianminlou Collection, 11 June 2023, lot 2891

Literature: Liu Liang-yu, Appreciation of Chinese Ceramics Through the Ages – 4: Ming Official Wares, Taipei, 1991, p. 237

Geng Baochang, Identification of Ming and Qing Porcelains, Beijing, 1993, p. 139, fig. 255; p. 500, col. pl. 68

Ye Peilan, Polychrome Porcelains, Jinan, 2005, p. 95, pl. 156

Exhibited: Ancient Chinese Ceramics from the Kau Chi Society of Chinese Art, Art Museum, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 19 December 1981 – 18 February 1982, pl. 105

Ancient Chinese Ceramics from the Hong Kong Kau Chi Society of Chinese Art, National Museum of History, Taipei, 20 April – 30 May 1982, pl. 105

An Anthology of Chinese Works of Art – Min Chiu Society Silver Jubilee Exhibition, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 25 October 1985 – 15 January 1986, p. 364, pl. 159

Tianminlou Collection of Chinese Ceramics, vol. I, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Urban Council, Hong Kong, 1987, p. 120, pl. 73

Exhibition of Famous Chinese Ceramics – 2000 Years of Chinese Ceramic Excellence, Japan, 1992, p. 96, pl. 93

Special Exhibition of Ming and Qing Polychrome Wares from the Tianminlou Foundation, Shanghai, 23-25 April 1994, pp. 10-11, pl. 4

Exhibition of Treasures of Legacy – Min Chiu Society Golden Jubilee Exhibition, Hong Kong, 25 September 2010 – 2 January 2011, p. 296, pl. 153

Note; The Longqing reign lasted only six years, and official kiln productions from this period are exceedingly rare. Surviving examples suggest that Longqing porcelain continued the technical and stylistic traditions of Jiajing, with blue-and-white and wucai wares dominating production. A closely related example of similar form is in the Baur Collection, illustrated by John Ayers in The Baur Collection Geneva: Chinese Ceramics, vol. I, Geneva, 1999, p. 156, pl. 95.

Christie's. Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, Hong Kong, 30 April 2026