Lot 22. A blue and white 'dragon' bottle vase, Jiaqing seal mark and period (1796-1820). Height 11 1/8  in., 28.4 cm. Estimate 10,000 — 15,000 USD. Lot Sold 93,750 USD. Photo: Sotheby's

the compressed globular body surmounted by a tall cylindrical neck with a flared rim, finely painted with a large five-clawed dragon writhing amid flames and clouds, with its young below striding among crashing waves, the base with a six-character seal mark 

Provenance: Louis Joseph, Inc., Boston, Massachusetts, late 1950s - early 1960s.

Note: Compare an almost identical vase, possibly the pair to the present lot, sold at Bonhams San Francisco, 16th December 2014, lot 8331. 

A blue and white bottle vase with dragons and clouds, Jiaqing mark, late Qing dynasty; 11 1/4in (28.5cm) high. Sold for US$ 317,000 (€258,164) at Bonhams San Francisco, 16th December 2014, lot 8331. Photo Bonhams.

Molded with a flared rim to the long neck and body of compressed pear form raised on the flared foot, the walls painted with two dragons facing one another amid clouds and waves set between a cloud collar band below the rim and a squared S-scroll band along the foot, the recessed base bearing the six-character mark in seal script and all surfaces except the foot pad covered with a lustrous celadon-tinged glaze. 

Note: For a Jiaqing mark and period vase of similar form but decorated with three dragons contending for a single pearl and shorter in size, see Gugong bowuyuan cang wenwu zhenpin quanji, 2010, vol. 36 (Qinghua youli hong), cat. no. 143, p. 157 (17.4cm high).

A blue and white Jiaqing mark and period vase of the same form and painted with the same borders, but with numerous striding and writhing dragons amidst cloud scrolls, in the Qing Court Collection is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Blue and White Porcelain with Underglaze Red, vol. III, Hong Kong, 2000, pl. 143.

Sotheby's. Important Chinese Art, New York, 13 Sep 2017, 10:00 AM