Lot 8102. An exceedingly rare massive blue and white ‘dragon’ basin, Longqing six-character mark in a line in underglaze blue and of the period (1567-1572); 27 in. (68.5 cm.) diam. Estimate HKD 1,500,000 - HKD 2,500,000. Price realised HKD 1,875,000 © Christie's Images Ltd 2017 © Christie's Images Ltd 2017

The basin is boldly painted in vibrant blue around the body with two pairs of five-clawed dragons contesting flaming pearls, amongst cloud scrolls and above breaking waves and rocks, below a band of cash motifs. The top side of the rim is painted with a classic scroll.

Provenance: Captain W. R. Clarke, sold at Christie's London, 12 October, 1970, lot 19 
Anthony Derham, London & New York

Literature: Anthony du Boulay, Christie’s Pictorial History of Chinese Ceramics, Oxford, 1984, p. 133, fig. 6.

Note: This magnificent basin is exceptionally rare. The Longqing Emperor reigned for only a short period between 1567 to 1572, less than six years, and the area around Jingdezhen suffered from both extensive flooding and severe damage by fires during this reign. Not surprisingly, extant imperial Longqing porcelains are extremely scarce. Even the Qing court had relatively few pieces dating to the Longqing reign. The imperial Longqing porcelains are noted for their beautifully rich, jewel-like blue, a feature which is particularly evident on the current basin. Most surviving Longqing porcelains are relatively small in scale and very few other large Longqing-marked basins appear to have been published. Indeed in 1571 the Jingdezhen censor Xu Shi requested the large imperial order that were recently sent to Jingdezhen should be reduced by 80 percent. Specifically, he asked that the large basins should be removed from the order as they were particularly difficult to fire and there was a very high failure rate.

Only three other blue and white Longqing-marked basins of this design appear to have been published, all with varying degrees of restoration. One is in the National Museum of China, illustrated in Studies of the Collections of the National Museum of China-Porcelain-Ming Dynasty, Shanghai, 2007, p. 163, no. 88 (fig. 1); the second is in the Idemitsu Museum of Arts, illustrated in Chinese Ceramics in the Idemitsu Collection, Tokyo, 1987, no. 713; and the third, with the fifth claw effaced, was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 28 April 1997, lot 674.

A blue and white ‘dragon’ basin, Longqing mark and period (1567-1572), Collection of the National Museum of China