Lot 127. The Leshantang Collection. A fine and rare blue and white 'kui dragon' vase, Seal mark and period of Qianlong (1736-1795); 28.3 cm. Lot Sold 3,048,000 HKD (Estimate 1,500,000 - 2,500,000 HKD). © Sotheby's 2023

well potted with a compressed globular body rising from a splayed foot to a tall elegant waisted neck, exquisitely painted with two pairs of confronted archaistic kui dragons with their sinuous bodies writhing amongst dense interlocking lotus scrolls, detailed with a bat hovering above and suspending three plump peaches, all between upright lappets and a classic scroll encircling the foot and a ruyi band at the shoulder, the neck similarly decorated with four pairs of dragons between a keyfret band and a ruyi border, the base inscribed with a six-character seal mark.

Provenance: Offered at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 21st May 1980, lot 182.

Literature: The Leshantang Collection of Chinese Porcelain, Taipei, 2005, pl. 32.

Sotheby's. The Leshantang Collection – Treasures of Chinese Art from the Tsai I-Ming Collection, Hong Kong, 8 October 2023