A Pair of Wucai 'Dragon and Phoenix' Bowls. Kangxi Marks and Period - Photo Sotheby's  

each with rounded sides rising from a straight foot to a gently flaring rim, painted to the exterior with green and red dragons in pursuit of flaming pearls, seperated by a pair of descending phoenix, all below a band of bajixiang interspersed with ruyiemblems, the interior with a medallion enclosing an iron-red dragon writhing in pursuit of a pearl amidst flames, inscribed to the base with a six-character Kangxi mark within a double-circle. Quantité: 2 - 13.2cm.., 5 1/4 in. Estimation: 30,000 - 50,000 GBP

PROVENANCE: Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 12th/13th May 1976, lot 321.

EXHIBITED: Ch'ing Polychrome Porcelain, Fung Ping Shan Museum, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 1977, cat. no. 32.
From the Tang to the Qing: Chinese Ceramics from circa 618-1850 A.D. from the Collection of Dr. and Mrs. Peter Thompson, Hull University, Hull, 1996, cat. no. 101.

NOTE DE CATALOGUE: The present pair of bowls, with their auspicious decoration of a dragon and phoenix, convey a wish for a happy marriage. First conceived during the Kangxi period, the popularity of this vibrant design with its distinctive palette saw it continue to be produced throughout the Qing dynasty.

A closely related example in the Nanjing Museum is illustrated in The Official Kiln Porcelain of the Chinese Qing Dynasty, Shanghai, 2003, p. 86; another from the collection of C.P. Lin was included in the exhibition Elegant Form and Harmonious Decoration, Percival David Foundation, London, 1992, cat. no. 121; two were sold in our New York rooms, one from the Ira and Nancy Koger collection, 27th November 1990, lot 46, the other, 11th September 2012, lot 260; and a pair of bowls was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 20th March 1990, lot 623, and again in our Hong Kong rooms, 8th April 2007, lot 772.

Sotheby's. Chinese Ceramics from the Collection of Peter and Nancy Thompson. London | 07 nov. 2012 www.sothebys.com