| Imperial underglaze blue and iron red dragon bowl with three five clawed dragons amidst flames and clouds on the exterior, the sides sloping gently upward to the mouth rim surrounded by two bands of underglaze blue, the interior of the mouth rim with two more bands of underglaze blue, the cavieto with a five clawed dragon in underglaze red chasing a flaming pearl amidst clouds in underglaze blue all within a double circle of underglaze blue, the foot encircled by a triple band of underglaze blue, the white glaze of the exterior pooling perfectly at the foot, a six character Kangxi mark and of the period in underglaze blue within a double circle on the base. Several small glaze bubble bursts on rim. 7 in. diam.
Provenance: Boston, Massachusetts Collection, Christies New York
This Imperial dragon bowl is of exceptional quality and very rare. A duplicate of the bowl is in the Palace Museum in Beijing. See "Qing Porcelain from the Palace Museum Collection", Forbidden City Publishing House, Hong Kong, 1989, pl. 72; "Splendour of the Qing Dynasty", Hong Kong Museum of Art, 1992, Catalogue pl. 141. |
