AN EXTREMELY RARE COPPER-RED DECORATED 'DRAGON' VASE, SANXUANPING MARK AND PERIOD OF KANGXI

well modelled with a slender ovoid body supported on a countersunk base and surmounted by a narrow trumpet neck with flared rim, the lower neck bordered with three thin raised fillets, the body painted in copper red with two three-clawed dragons leaping from finely incised and carved frothy and cresting waves stylised with ruyi motifs, the mythical beasts interspersed by two copper-red budding lotus blooms sprouting from the tempestuous waters, the base inscribed in underglaze blue with a six-character reign mark

J.J. Lally & Co., New York.

There is restoration at the base of the neck. The mouth rim also has three refilled flakes (longest approx. 0.6 cm). The interior of the mouth also appears to have a restored hairline which does not pass through to the exterior. There are otherwise just some original iron spots and a shallow flake to the unglazed footrim.
"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."

This vase is extremely rare for its design rendered in copper red and only one other closely related example appears to have been published, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, from the collection of Mary Clark Thompson, illustrated in Oriental Ceramics. The World’s Great Collections, vol. 11, Tokyo, 1982, pl. 118, together with a Yongzheng version of this design, where the waves and scrolling clouds are not carved but also painted in copper red, col. pl. 30, from the Friedsam Collection.

Vases of this type were also produced covered in a celadon glaze, and with the overall design of dragon and clouds carved onto the body; see two such examples in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Gugong Bowuyuan cang Qingdai yuyao ciqi [Qing porcelains from the Imperial kilns preserved in the Palace Museum], Beijing, 2005, vol. I, book 1, pls 112 and 113; one in the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, published in S.W. Bushell, Oriental Ceramic Art Illustrated by Examples from the Collection of W.T. Walters, London, [1896] 1981, col. pl. VII; another, from the Tsui Museum of Art, Hong Kong, sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 3rd November 1996, lot 566; and a fifth example sold in our New York rooms, 16th/17th September 2014, lot 156.

Vases of this form and design are likely to have been produced during the period when the artist Liu Yuan (c. 1638-c. 1685) created designs for the imperial kilns. In his research on Qing imperial porcelain, Peter Y.K. Lam has highlighted the importance of this artist for porcelain decoration of the Kangxi period, and has shown that the image of a dragon emerging from clouds or waves, as seen on the present vase, was a distinctive Liu Yuan design. Furthermore, Lam has convincingly argued that the various wares with peachbloom glazes were created during this period early in the Kangxi reign. One of the few distinctive shapes produced with a peachbloom glaze is this sanxianping (‘three-string’) or laifuping (‘radish’) vase form, which was an innovation of the time.

For monochrome Kangxi mark and period peachbloom vases of this type, see an example in the Palace Museum, Beijing, published in Kangxi. Yongzheng. Qianlong. Qing Porcelain from the Palace Museum Collection, Hong Kong, 1989, p. 137, pl. 120; and another, from the Meiyintang Collection, illustrated as part of a complete group of eight peachbloom wares for the scholar’s desk, in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, London, 1994-2010, vol. 4, p. 328.