Lot 3996. A very fine green-enamelled 'dragon' saucer dish, Qianlong six-character sealmark and of the period (1736-1795); 7 in. (17.7 cm.) diam. Estimate HKD 120,000 - HKD 180,000. Price Realized HKD 475,000. © Christie's Images Ltd. 2011

Well enamelled to the exterior with a pair of five-clawed dragons in mutual pursuit of 'flaming pearls', the interior with a sinuous dragon grasping for a pearl amidst flame scrolls below a pair of green-enamelled line borders, Japanese wood box.

Provenance: Bluett & Sons, London
A Japanese private collection

Note: A similar dish in the Victoria and Albert Museum is illustrated by R. Kerr, Chinese Ceramics, Porcelain of the Qing Dynasty, London, 1986, no. 98 and another in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, was included in the in the Special Exhibition of K'ang-Hsi, Yung-Cheng, Ch'ien-Lung Porcelain Ware from the National Palace Museum, Taibei, 1986, illustrated in the Catalogue, p. 116, no. 86. Yongzheng and Jiaqing examples can be found in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Miscellaneous Enamelled Porcelains, Plain Tricoloured Porcelains, The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Shanghai, 2009, nos. 76 and 77.