A MAGNIFICENT AND RARE IRON-RED AND UNDERGLAZE-BLUE 'NINE DRAGON' CHARGER MARK AND PERIOD OF YONGZHENG

THIS IS A PREMIUM LOT. CLIENTS WHO WISH TO BID ON PREMIUM LOTS MAY BE REQUESTED BY SOTHEBY'S TO COMPLETE THE PRE-REGISTRATION APPLICATION FORM AND TO DELIVER TO SOTHEBY'S A DEPOSIT OF HK$2,500,000, OR SUCH OTHER HIGHER AMOUNT AS MAY BE DETERMINED BY SOTHEBY'S, AND ANY FINANCIAL REFERENCES, GUARANTEES AND/OR SUCH OTHER SECURITY AS SOTHEBY'S MAY REQUIRE IN ITS ABSOLUTE DISCRETION AS SECURITY FOR THE BID. THE BIDnow ONLINE BIDDING SERVICE IS NOT AVAILABLE FOR PREMIUM LOTS.

 



sturdily potted with curved sides and everted rim, the interior with a central medallion of a bright iron-red, vigorous, five-clawed full-frontal dragon chasing a 'flaming pearl' amidst a turbulent sea of underglaze-blue waves, the cavetto on both the interior and exterior with four rampant red dragons in different lively attitudes, two of them five-clawed and two three-clawed and one of the latter with wings and a fish tail and only one eye visible, all floating among blue clouds, the rim with further waves, the base inscribed with a six-character reign mark within double circles in underglaze blue

Sotheby's London, 6th June 1995, lot 242.
Sotheby's Hong Kong, 23rd October 2005, lot 208.

There is a very tiny glaze flake (0.3 x 0.1 cm) to the rim at 5 o'clock position, possibly resulted from a burst air bubble. The black enamel of the eyeballs of the full-frontal dragon in the central medallion was worn and is now retouched. Apart from that, the overall condition of the charger is excellent with almost all of the iron-red decoration well preserved.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Dishes of this magnificent size and formidable decoration were made to impress. Such wares were used at Imperial banquets and on special celebratory occasions, such as the ‘Thousand Elderly Banquet’ held in honour of senior citizens when thousands of invited guests were served a great feast. The Manchu custom of banqueting closely followed the Mongolian and Tibetan tradition of shared communal dining.

A Yongzheng dish of this design and large size in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is published in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Blue and White Porcelain with Underglazed Red, vol. 3, Hong Kong, 2000, pl. 223; another in the Seikado Bunko Art Museum, Tokyo, was included in the exhibition Seikado zo Shincho toji. Keitokuchin kanyo no bi [Qing porcelain collected in the Seikado. Beauty of the Jingdezhen imperial kilns], Seikado Bunko Art Museum, Tokyo, 2006, cat. no. 53; and another in the Meiyintang collection is published in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, London, 1994-2010, vol. 4, no. 1723. Compare also a Yongzheng dish sold in our London rooms, 6th December 1994, lot 179; and another, with a slightly reduced rim, sold at Christie’s London, 10th April 1978, lot 49.

The decoration found in this dish is a Yongzheng period interpretation of an early-Ming pattern. The Yongzheng emperor was known to have sent antiques from the palace to Jingdezhen in order to establish standards and as model and inspiration for designs. The dragon design is after a Xuande mark and period dish painted with a side-facing five-clawed dragon amongst crashing waves in the centre and the side decorated with three dragons striding among clouds. An example of the Xuande dish, excavated at the waste heap of the Ming Imperial Kilns in Zhushan, was included in the exhibition Xuande Imperial Kiln Excavated at Jingdezhen, Chang Foundation, Taipei, 1998, cat. no. 87 (fig. 1).

The creative ingenuity of the Yongzheng potter in his use of space is evident from the successful transfer of a pattern that was originally made for much smaller vessels. The different design elements on this dish are perfectly composed to give no hint of overcrowding or awkward gap that could hinder the overall harmony. While maintaining the essence of the original design, the artist created a motif that is familiar yet spontaneous. The side-facing dragon has been replaced with a frontal dragon and the crashing waves no longer cover any part of the dragon’s body to give a greater sense of the creature’s dominance and strength. The use of red heightens the contrast between the dynamism of the background and that of the dragons while endowing the scene with further auspicious meaning. Furthermore, the additional crested rolling wave band encircling the rim of the dish reveals the craftsman’s skill through his recognition that a large dish such as the present would need a band to bring the expansive design together; an element that was not necessary for the smaller Ming dishes.

Yongzheng dishes of this type continued to be favoured by the Qianlong emperor who commissioned the making of very similar vessels. While at first glance they appear to be almost identical, upon close examination it is evident that the artists of the two periods interpreted the design differently. In comparison to the Qianlong dragons, the Yongzheng rendering is more robust and ferocious and the strength of the creature is reinforced by the crashing waves which become more stylised and uniform in the later version. Moreover, the four dragons on the rim placed on the axis of the central dragon on the Yongzheng dish has shifted 45 degrees anticlockwise and the previously ethereal clouds swirling around them also embody a similar sense of uniformity as the waves on the Qianlong dish. The subtlety and freer quality of the Yongzheng version reflects a very different emperor to his successor Qianlong.  Examples of dishes from both periods are illustrated in Min Shin no bijutsu [Ming and Qing art], Tokyo, 1982, pls. 154 and 172; and another Qianlong example in the Nanjing Museum was included in the exhibition Qing Imperial Porcelain of the Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong Reigns, Art Gallery, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 1995, cat. no. 81, and also illustrated on the dust jacket.