Of rounded flaring sides rising from the slightly inverted foot ring, the exterior vividly painted in underglaze blue and enamelled in red, green, yellow and aubergine, with four alternating five-clawed dragons and phoenixes pursuing the flaming pearl amidst foliate floral scrolls, below the rim with the Eight Buddhist Emblems, the interior decorated with a central medallion enclosing a five-clawed dragon pursuing the flaming pearl amidst fire scrolls. 

Provenance: a European private collection.

Note: The present pair of bowls is very rare in its combination of design and size. However, see one example illustrated by Wang Qingzheng, ed., Kangxi Porcelain Ware from the Shanghai Museum Collection, Shanghai, 1998, pl.160. However for a pair of related dishes with dragons on a yellow-ground, see Yang Boda, The Tsui Museum of Art: Chinese Ceramics IV: Qing Dynasty, Hong Kong, 1995, no.120, and for a related smaller blue-wash-ground example, decorated with dragons only, see Chinese Porcelain: The S.C. Ko Tianminlou Collection, Part I, Hong Kong, 1987, pl.91. See also a similarly decorated dish, Kangxi mark and period, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Porcelains in Polychrome and Contrasting Colours, Hong Kong, 1999, pl.210.

Bonhams. FINE CHINESE ART, 17 May 2018, 10:30 BST, LONDON, NEW BOND STREET