Lot 3569. A Carved Green-Glazed ‘Dragon’ Bowl, Mark and Period of Yongzheng (1723-1735). D 11.3cm. Sold for HKD 336,000 (Estimate HKD 150,000 - 250,000). © Poly Auction Hong Kong Limited 2022

The bowl has an open mouth, deep belly and circular foot, and is of formalized form with a clean white glaze. The interior and exterior of the bowl are glazed with a melon green glaze, the glaze uniform and transparent, the colour of the glaze fresh and dripping. On the outer wall, the abdomen is concealed and carved with two dragons catching a pearl, the dragons at the edge of the clouds in a subtle manner. Near the foot is a depiction of a seawater cliff, a metaphor for the eternal stability of the river and the mountains. The bowl is inscribed in blue and white within a double circle at the base with 'Made during the Yongzheng era of the Qing dynasty' in six characters in regular script.

Provenance: 1. Bluett & Sons, London
2. Meiyintang Collection, Switzerland.

Exhibition: Evolution to Perfection: Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, Sporting d'Hiver, Monte Carlo, 1996, no. 157

Published: Kang Ruijun, The Maine Hall Collection of Chinese Ceramics, Volume 2, London, 1994-2010, pp. 226-227, no. 886.

Note: The Yongzheng emperor's reign spanned thirteen years and he favoured monochrome-glazed porcelain, and this example is decorated with a very rare variety of glaze at this time, the colour of which is light and elegant and not vulgar. The glaze is a low-temperature glaze with copper oxide as the colouring agent and lead oxide as the flux, requiring a second firing. The Yongzheng emperor's preference for pigment-glazed porcelain is evident from the fact that a large proportion of his wares were made with pigment-glazed varieties, as shown in the Qing Palace Archives. However, the green glaze on this piece is a rarity among the colourful pigment-glazed works of the Yongzheng reign.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version).

Poly Auction Hong Kong Limited. A Romance Among Blooming Roses: The Meiyintang Collection of Three Dynasties Imperial Ceramics, Hong Kong, 2 Dec 2021