A rare large iron-red 'dragon' bowl, Mark and period of Jiajing | 明嘉靖 礬紅彩雙龍戲珠紋大盌 《大明嘉靖年製》款

Collection of Mrs. B. Z. Seligman (1883-1965).

Sotheby's London, 11th May 1954, lot 48.

Collection of R. F. A. Riesco, London.

Sotheby's London, 23rd June 1970, lot 48.

Collection of Nicolas de la Mare Thompson (1928-2010).

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B. Z. Seligman(1883-1965)收藏

倫敦蘇富比，1954年5月11日，編號48

R. F. A. Riesco收藏，倫敦

倫敦蘇富比，1970年6月23日，編號48

Nicolas de la Mare Thompson(1928-2010)收藏

Bowls of this size and decoration are exceptionally rare, preserved in some of the world’s most important collections. Compare a closely related but damaged example preserved in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Gugong Bowuyuan cang gu taoci ciliao xuancui / Selection of Ancient Ceramic Material from the Palace Museum, vol. I, Beijing, 2005, pl.156; another with the fifth claw effaced from the collection of Nancy and Ira Koger, illustrated in John Ayers, Chinese Ceramics. The Koger Collection, New York, 1985, pl. 79, later in the Meiyintang Collection, included in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, vol. 4, London, 1994, pl. 1686; a third in the Idemitsu Museum of Arts, Tokyo, in Chinese Ceramics in the Idemitsu Collection, Tokyo, 1987, pl. 195, included in the collection’s exhibition at the Seattle Museum of Art, In Pursuit of the Dragon: Traditions and Transitions in Ming Ceramics, Seattle Museum of Art, Seattle, 1988, cat. no. 46; a fourth example sold at Christie’s London, 16th December 1981, lot 159; and a fifth sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 8th October 2010, lot 2682.

Prototypes of this extraordinary iron-red variety have been attributed to the Chenghua period and excavated from the waste heaps of the Ming imperial kilns at Jingdezhen; see an example included in Yuan’s and Ming’s Imperial Porcelains Unearthed from Jingdezhen, Yan-Huang Art Museum, Beijing, 1999, pl. 317.

此礬紅彩雙龍戲珠盌其紋飾及尺寸極為罕見，僅存於世界重要公私典藏之中。可參考一例但品相略損，現藏北京故宮博物院，著錄於《故宮博物院藏古陶瓷資料選粹》，卷一，北京，2005年，圖版156；另見一例來源為 Nancy 與 Ira Koger 伉儷舊藏者，龍之第五爪經刻意磨除，著錄於 John Ayers 編，《Chinese Ceramics. The Koger Collection》，紐約，1985年，圖版79，後入玫茵堂收藏，見 康蕊君，《玫茵堂中國陶瓷》，卷四，倫敦，1994年，圖版1686；另有一例藏於東京出光美術館，見《出光美術館藏品圖錄 : 中國陶磁》，東京，1987年，圖版195，並展於西雅圖藝術博物館「In Pursuit of the Dragon: Traditions and Transitions in Ming Ceramics」展覽，西雅圖，1988年，編號46；又可參考一例售於倫敦佳士得，1981年12月16日，編號159；以及另一例售於香港蘇富比，2010年10月8日，編號2682。

此類礬紅彩品式之原型，可追溯至成化時期，並曾於景德鎮御窯廢料堆中出土。參見一例著錄於《景德镇出土元明官窯瓷器展》，炎黃藝術館，北京，1999年，圖版317。