Lot 3111. A fine and very rare anhua-decorated tianbai 'dragon' tea bowl, Yongle incised four-character seal mark and of the period (1403-1424);4 in. (10.2 cm.) diam. Estimate HK$1,200,000 - HK$1,800,000. Price Realized HK$2,200,000 ($285,199). © Christie's Image Ltd 2015

The thin-bodied bowl is finely potted with deep rounded sides rising from a straight foot ring to a gently flaring rim. The cavetto is moulded with a pair of dragons striding powerfully amidst ruyi-shaped clouds, above a finely incised reign mark enclosed within a flaming pearl to the centre of the interior.

Note: This exquisitely potted tea bowl is very rare and few other similar examples are known, the closest being an example in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Empty Vessels, Replenished Minds: the Culture, Practice, and Art of Tea, Taipei, 2002, p. 58, no. 36, which shares a similar profile and moulded decoration as the current bowl but has an incised Yongle mark enclosed within a circle rather than a flaming pearl. The single-circled mark is found ontianbai-glazed conical tea bowls and stem bowls of this period, see the former in the National Palace Museum, museum numbers Guci 014509-014510, and an example of the later illustrated in Ming Ceramics in the British Museum, London, 2001, p. 98, no. 3:1. 

Compare also to a Hongwu period copper-red glazed tea cup similarly moulded with dragons but with a cloud motif to the centre of interior, ibid, Taipei, p. 55, no. 33, where the author notes that the size and shape of such bowl were originated no earlier than Yuan dynasty as a response to the change in tea-drinking practice from powdered tea to steeping of tea leaves. 

Christie's. IMPORTANT CHINESE CERAMICS AND WORKS OF ART, Hong Kong, 2 December 2015