An extremely rare doucai 'dragon and phoenix' bowl, Mark and period of Kangxi

Collection of John Oswald Liddell (1858-1918), and thence by descent.

Vividly rendered in soft washes of colored enamel delicately outlined in cobalt, this doucai bowl painted with dragons and phoenixes amidst meandering lotus scrolls is extremely rare. Only one other bowl of this design with a Kangxi mark appears to be known. It was previously in the collection of Alfred Julius Forkel, who documented the bowl in his diary during his travels in China between 1901 and 1910, and was recently sold at Nagel Auctions, Stuttgart, 12th June 2023, lot 46.

Compare a doucai bowl also with a Kangxi mark, but decorated with dragons soaring amidst billowing clouds, in the Palace Museum, Beijing (accession no. 故00146794). For a Kangxi marked doucai jardinière painted in the same style, with two dragons facing a shou medallion in the center, see one in the National Palace Museum, Taipei (accession no. 故瓷009233N000000000).