A rare pair of iron-red decorated stembowls and covers iron-red seal marks and period of Qianlong

each well potted with rounded sides and galleried rim supported on a slender tapered stem, the exterior vividly painted with two winged dragons in flight chasing 'flaming pearls' amidst scattered flame motifs, the interior plain except for a six-character mark within a double square, the domed cover similarly decorated, with a reticulated chicken-shaped knop, the underside with a further six-character mark within a double square (wood stands)

Sotheby's Hong Kong, 1st November 1999, lot 373.
Christie's Hong Kong, 27th October 2003, lot 639.

A single covered stemcup of this design and of Qianlong mark and period, in Taiwan, is published in the Illustrated Catalogue of Ch'ing Dynasty Porcelain in the National Palace Museum, Republic of China: Ch'ien-lung Ware and Other Wares, Tokyo, 1981, pl.25; another is illustrated in John Ayers, The Baur Collection, Geneva. Chinese Ceramics, vol.IV, Geneva, 1974, pl. A 640; and an unmarked Kangxi prototype in Beijing is included in Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong. Qing Porcelain from the Palace Museum Collection, Hong Kong, 1989, p.84, pl.67.