A fine and rare copper-red 'five-dragon' bowl. Kangxi six-character mark and of the period. Photo Bonhams

Carefully and precisely painted in a strong even tone of copper-red on the exterior with five symmetrically-spaced roundels, each displaying a five-clawed dragon in a snarling coil, all beneath an everted rim, the plain interior with a sixth dragon at the centre; 14.5cm (5¾in) diam. Sold for £133,250

Provenance: Stephen Junkunc III, purchased from Nagatani and Co., 1995
S.Marchant and Son, London
The Harriet Szechenyi Collection, Switzerland

Exhibited: S.Marchant and Son, Imperial Porcelain of Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong, 1996, Catalogue no.9

Several of these rare bowls have been published from international collections. See for example R.Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, Vol.2, London, 1994, no.732; and J.Ayers, The Baur Collection, Chinese Ceramics, Vol.4, Geneva, 1974, no.A530.

Bonhams. Fine Chinese Art, 10 Nov 2011, New Bond Street  www.bonhams.com