Lot 65
  • 65

A RARE SQUARE POLYCHROME PAINTED 'DRAGON' BOWL MARK AND PERIOD OF JIAJING

Estimate
600,000 - 800,000 HKD
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Description

of square section, with curved, widely flaring sides and a straight foot, painted in an unusual combination of yellow, aubergine, red and black enamels with touches of green with four striding five-clawed dragons among scrolls of lingzhi around the outer sides with a ruyi border below, the inside with a similar dragon in a square panel in the centre and a lingzhi-scroll border at the rim, all enclosed between underglaze-blue double-line borders, the base with an unbordered six-character reign mark

Provenance

Collection of Harry J. Oppenheim (died 1946).
Collection of Nancy and Ira Koger.
Ralph M. Chait Galleries, New York.

Exhibited

Mostra d'Arte Cinese/Exhibition of Chinese Art, Palazzo Ducale, Venice, 1954, cat. no. 711 (illustrated).

Literature

R.L. Hobson, Bernard Rackham and William King, Chinese Ceramics in Private Collections, London, 1931, fig. 134.
John Ayers, Chinese Ceramics. The Koger Collection, London, 1985, pl. 84.
Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, London, 1994-2010, vol. 4, no. 1688.

Condition

There is a 5 cm hairline from the rim on one corner, a 1 cm hairline on the side and a 1 cm chip to another corner. The enamelling is in very good condition.
"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."

Catalogue Note

For another piece of this design and this unusual colour scheme in the Shanghai Museum see Lu Minghua, Mingdai guanyao ciqi [Ming imperial porcelain], Shanghai, 2007, pl. 4-16; and for one in the British Museum, London, from the Eumorfopoulos collection see Jessica Harrison-Hall, Ming Ceramics in the British Museum, London, 2001, no. 9:114.

Harry (Henry) James Oppenheim assembled an outstanding collection of Chinese ceramics and other works of art in the early part of the 20th century. His collection was characterized by R.L. Hobson in 1931 with the words "Limited exhibition space may be a drawback to the omnivorous collector, but it has compensating advantages. It forces its victims to be selective ... The collection of Mr. H. J. Oppenheim's flat is ... like a well-tended garden drastically weeded and full of fine flowers." Oppenheim left his entire collection to the British Museum, London, but excluded the present bowl from his donation, probably because the British Museum already owned an example of the same design from the Eumorfopoulos collection.