A COPPER-RED AND BLUE AND WHITE 'DRAGON' VASE, MEIPING QING DYNASTY, YONGZHENG / QIANLONG PERIOD

of finely potted slender form with broad rounded shoulders, rising to a slightly waisted neck with lipped rim, vividly painted in copper-red of a particularly rich, ruby tone transmuting in places to intense green with nine ferocious five-clawed dragons, their undulating scaly bodies prancing around the sides and captured in various poses, all reserved on a dense ground of turbulent rolling waves in soft tones of underglaze-blue accented with foaming crests and crashing against jagged rockwork emerging from the base, all beneath a border of pendant lappets and a narrow band of scrolling lingzhi fungus at the shoulder, the neck encircled by upright plantain leaves, the base slightly sunken and ground

The base has been ground and the mark has been effaced. The base has a star crack extending from one edge of the inner footrim to the opposite side. There is also another attendant crack on the side. On the base, there is a faded collector's mark inscribed in ink. The glaze has some shallow dirty scratches that can be cleaned. The mouthrim has some dirty pinholes that can also be cleaned. The control of the colours is very good and the actual colour is very close to the catalogue illustration.
"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."

Copper-red and cobalt-blue 'dragon' meiping of this type are very rare, although five other examples are recorded, all of slightly different proportions and of Qianlong mark and period.  One Qianlong example in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in the Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Blue and White Porcelain with Underglaze-red, vol.III, Shanghai, 2000, pl.205; another in the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, is published in The T. T. Tsui Galleries of Chinese Art, Toronto, 1996, pl.124; a third is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, is illustrated in Suzanne G. Valenstein, A Handbook of Chinese Ceramics, New York, 1989, pl.262; one sold in these rooms, 1st May 2001, lot 534; and another, also with a ground base, sold in our London rooms, 27th November 1973, lot 275, and again in these rooms, 22nd May 1979, lot 197; 7nd May 2002, lot 579; and 10th April 2006, lot 1536.

Meiping vases of Qianlong mark and period, decorated in this complex technique in underglaze-red and underglaze-blue, are also known with other designs, all of them apparently done in very small numbers only, and none with the red used to such dramatic effect as on the present design.  A meiping of the same proportions painted with fruit sprays was sold in these rooms as one of 'Eight Treasures from a Private Collection', 2nd November 1998, lot 301; two others with a different version of the fruit spray design are illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, op.cit., pl.231, and in Min Shin no Bijutsu, Tokyo, 1982, pl.169; and a piece in Taiwan painted with a red-and-blue lotus scroll design is included in the Illustrated Catalogue of Ch'ing Dynasty Porcelain in the National Palace Museum, Republic of China Chien'lung Ware and Other Wares, Toyko, 1981, pl.20.