Lot 3654. A rare large celadon-glazed 'dragon' charger, seal mark and period of Yongzheng (1723-1735). Estimate 600,000 — 800,000 HKD. Lot sold 2,000,000 HKD. Photo Sotheby's.

modelled after Longquan celadon ware, sturdily potted with shallow rounded sides rising from a short foot to an everted flat rim, the exterior moulded and carved with overlapping lotus petals, the interior with a medallion enclosing a stylised dragon amidst ruyi-shaped cloud scrolls, applied evenly overall save for the unglazed footring with a pale green glaze, the base inscribed with an underglaze-blue six-character seal mark; 47 cm, 18 1/2  in.

Notes: A Yongzheng dish of this pattern in the Freer Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., is illustrated in Michael Beurdeley and Guy Raindre, ed., Qing Porcelain, London, 1987, pl. 231; another is published in The Tsui Museum of Art. Chinese Ceramics, vol. IV, Hong Kong, 1991, pl. 125; and one from the T.Y. Chao Collection, included in the exhibition Ming and Ch’ing Porcelain, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1978, cat. no. 46, was sold in these rooms, 19th May 1987, lot 286.

For the original inspiration of this design, compare two Longquan celadon dishes, carved with dragons amongst clouds, in the Kunst Museum, Dusseldorf, included in the Museum’s exhibition Chinesisches Keramik, Dusseldorf, 1965, cat. nos. 86 and 88.

Sotheby's, Important Chinese Art, Hong Kong, 05 oct. 2016