A FINE AND RARE BLUE AND WHITE MOULDED 'DRAGON' STEMCUP YUAN DYNASTY, EARLY TO MID-14TH CENTURY

THIS IS A PREMIUM LOT. CLIENTS WHO WISH TO BID ON PREMIUM LOTS MAY BE REQUESTED BY SOTHEBY'S TO COMPLETE THE PRE-REGISTRATION APPLICATION FORM AND TO DELIVER TO SOTHEBY'S A DEPOSIT OF HK$2,500,000, OR SUCH OTHER HIGHER AMOUNT AS MAY BE DETERMINED BY SOTHEBY'S, AND ANY FINANCIAL REFERENCES, GUARANTEES AND/OR SUCH OTHER SECURITY AS SOTHEBY'S MAY REQUIRE IN ITS ABSOLUTE DISCRETION AS SECURITY FOR THE BID. THE BIDnow ONLINE BIDDING SERVICE IS NOT AVAILABLE FOR PREMIUM LOTS.

 



the wide, flared cup resting on a hollow splayed stem with horizontal bamboo-node ridges, emphasized by incised lines, the interior crisply moulded around the well with two four-clawed dragons striding among flames in pursuit of a 'flaming pearl', one with the character yu ('jade') in front of its foremost claw, set around a central medallion boldly painted in dark cobalt blue with a chrysanthemum spray within a moulded double-line border, all under a 'classic' scroll at the rim, the exterior decorated in underglaze blue with a single three-clawed dragon with wide open jaws, a slender undulating body and scales finely detailed by cross-hatching, emitting flames and chasing a pearl, the cup applied overall with a smooth transparent glaze slightly tinged to blue and thinning to white on the moulded designs on the interior

Yamanaka & Co., Ltd (January 1940, £ 38).
Collection of R.H.R. Palmer (1898-1970) (no. 539).
Christie’s Hong Kong, 17th January 1989, lot 561.
Jingguantang Collection, The Tsui Museum of Art, Hong Kong.
Christie’s Hong Kong, 3rd November 1996, lot 542.

Selected Treasures of Chinese Art, Min Chiu Society Thirtieth Anniversary Exhibition, Hong Kong, 1990-91, cat. no. 121.

Sir Harry Garner, Oriental Blue and White, London, 1954, pl. 2 A.
E.E. Bluett, ‘Chinese Works of Art in English Collections: The Collection of Mr. and Mrs. R.H.R. Palmer,' part 1, Apollo, April 1958, p. 160, fig. VIII (c).
The Tsui Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1991, pl. 57.
Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, London, 1994-2010, vol. 4, no. 1619.

There is an old original minute 6 mm. flake in the glaze by the foot ring and another minute nick next to it. There are some pinholes and expected minor firing imperfections in the glaze, but overall the stemcup 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."

Stemcups with such freely executed sketches of vigorous dragons chasing 'flaming pearls' appear to have been in use throughout China during the Yuan dynasty, although extant examples are rare. Similar stemcups, decorated both with dragons and with phoenix, were excavated from the Yuan city site at Jininglu in Inner Mongolia, see Chen Yongzhi, ed., Nei Menggu Jininglu gu cheng yizhi chutu ciqi/Porcelain Unearthed from Jininglu Ancient City Site in Inner Mongolia, Beijing, 2004, pl. 46, for a dragon stemcup, pls. 42-4, for three stemcups with phoenix, and p. 12, for several pieces packed together in a jar, as found on site. The same dragon stemcup was included in the exhibition Yuan qinghua/Blue and White of the Yuan, Capital Museum, Beijing, 2009, cat. no. 107, together with a related piece excavated from a Yuan hoard in Anhui, cat. no. 106. Another example, excavated from the tomb of the eminent Ming official Wang Xingzu, datable to the fourth year of Hongwu (AD 1371), is in the Nanjing Museum, published in Wang Qingzheng, Underglaze Blue and Red, Hong Kong, 1993, pl. 33.

A piece in the British Museum, London is published in Jessica Harrison-Hall, Ming Ceramics in the British Museum, London, 2001, no. 1: 24; and two similar stemcups from the collections of Mrs. O. Harriman and Lord Cunliffe, respectively, were included in the exhibition Chinese Blue and White Porcelain: 14th to 19th Centuries, The Oriental Ceramic Society at The Arts Council Gallery, London, 1953-4, cat. nos. 11 and 12.