A PAIR OF GREEN-ENAMELLED ‘DRAGON’ DISHES MARKS AND PERIOD OF KANGXI

each with rounded sides rising from a slightly tapered foot to a flared rim, painted to the interior with a five-clawed dragon enamelled in translucent green, writhing amongst flames in pursuit of a flaming pearl, enclosed within a green line border repeated at the rim, the exterior similarly decorated with two striding dragons chasing flaming pearls against a ground of incised waves and rocks, the base inscribed in underglaze blue with a six-character reign mark within a double circle

Sotheby's London, 21st February 1961, lot 179 (£120).
Bluett & Sons Ltd, London, 1961 (£120).
Collection of Roger Pilkington (1928-69), from 1961 (£120).

A Kangxi mark and period dish of this type was included in the exhibition The Wonders of the Potter’s Palette, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1984, cat. no. 26; one included in the exhibition Chinese Ceramics. The Koger Collection, John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, 1985, cat. no. 116, was sold at Christie’s New York, 19th September 2006, lot 393; another was sold in our London rooms, 11th July 1972, lot 152; and a fourth example was sold in these rooms, 22nd May 1984, lot 165.

This dynamic design of a side-facing dragon in green and black enamels was first used on porcelain during the Ming dynasty; for example see a ewer, attributed to the 15th century, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, included in the Museum’s exhibition Chenghua ciqi tezhan/Special Exhibition of Ch’eng-hua Porcelain Ware, 1465-1487, Taipei, 2003, cat. no. 112.