A BLUE-GROUND AND GREEN-ENAMEL 'DRAGON' BOWL MARK AND PERIOD OF KANGXI

the deep rounded sides rising steeply from a short straight foot to a flared rim, brightly painted in green enamel against an underglaze-blue ground, the interior with a central medallion enclosing a five-clawed dragon writhing fiercely among flames within a double-line border, the inner walls left white, the exterior similarly decorated with two five-clawed dragons striding among flames and clouds in pursuit of 'flaming pearls', above three tiers of pointed overlapping petals skirting the foot, the base inscribed with a six-character reign mark within a double ring in underglaze blue, the fifth claw of each dragon later hidden beneath black enamel

Spink & Son Ltd, London.
Christie’s Hong Kong, 7th July 2003, lot 573.

Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, London, 1994-2010, vol. 4, no. 1721.

There is a 1 cm hairline in the glaze above the Spink provenance label on the interior, otherwise the bowl is in good condition. The fifth claw of each dragon has been later hidden beneath a black enamel (showing on the illustration in the catalogue).
"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."

Two-coloured bowls of this type decorated with five-clawed dragons were the customary food vessels used in the Qing palace during large banquets, where the colours were regulated according to rank. Similar bowls were in use throughout the dynasty and the same pattern can be found with many different reign marks, those of the Kangxi period (AD 1662-1722) being the earliest. On the present bowl, the three dragons all have the fifth claw on each leg hidden under flame-like motifs in black enamel that were added at a later stage, probably to hide palace provenance of the bowl.

Another Kangxi bowl of this design in the Shanghai Museum is published in Wang Qingzheng, ed., Kangxi Porcelain Wares from the Shanghai Museum Collection, Hong Kong, 1998, pl. 194. A similar pair of bowls in the Roemer Museum, Hildesheim, is published in Ulrich Wiesner, Chinesisches Porzellan. Die Ohlmersche Sammlung im Roemer-Museum, Hildesheim, Mainz am Rhein, 1981, cat. no. 111 and col. pl. 209. Compare also a Kangxi dish decorated with this design in this colour scheme illustrated in John Ayers, The Baur Collection Geneva: Chinese Ceramics, Geneva, 1968-74, vol. IV, no. A 555.