A VERY RARE LARGE BLUE AND WHITE 'DRAGON' CHARGER MARK AND PERIOD OF YONGZHENG

the large well-potted body with shallow rounded sides rising from a slightly tapered foot to a flared rim, painted in intense cobalt blue in the slightly recessed centre with a winged, five-clawed fish-tailed dragon, the fierce and powerful creature depicted en face with open jaws and outstretched wings among scrolling peonies, writhing around a 'flaming pearl', the rounded cavetto decorated with two further five-clawed dragons striding among composite floral scrolls, below a rim border of crested waves, the reverse repeated with two dragons pacing among leafy scrolls of lotus and peony, the base left white and inscribed with a six-character reign mark within a double ring in underglaze blue

Sotheby’s London, 13th December 1988, lot 250.
Christie’s Hong Kong, 26th September 1989, lot 651.

Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, London, 1994-2010, vol. 2, no. 761.

There is a shallow chip restored at the rim between the 5 and 6 o'clock position , another restored chip between the 6 and 7 o'clock position, with an associated hairline crack extending on approx. 6.5cm inside the dish (with some repaint to the cobalt). There is a small 1.2 cm frit retouched on the edge of the rim at 11 o'clock. The white background is slightly more tinged to blue, the cobalt a little less purple compared to the catalogue illustration.
"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."

The pattern of this dish is vaguely based on an early Ming prototype and the stippled blue dots on flowers and leaves were added to evoke the accidental appearance of cobalt-blue specks characteristic of Yongle (AD 1403-24) blue-and-white, known as ‘heaping and piling’.

It is very rare to find Yongzheng (AD 1723-35) examples of the present design, which is more frequently seen in the Qianlong period (AD 1736-95); see a dish of Qianlong mark and period, in Anthony du Boulay, Christie’s Pictorial History of Chinese Art, Oxford, 1984 p. 203, fig. 2, sold at Christie’s London, 13th December 1982, lot 569.

More common in the Yongzheng reign was a related design, with a large central dragon without wings among clouds, surrounded by four smaller dragons; an example in the National Museum of China is illustrated in Zhongguo Guojia Bowuguan guancang wenwu yanjiu congshu/Studies on the Collections of the National Museum of China. Ciqi juan [Porcelain section]: Qingdai [Qing dynasty], Shanghai, 2007, pl. 38; another included in the exhibition Ming and Ch’ing Porcelain from the Collection of the T.Y. Chao Family Foundation, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1978, cat. no. 81, was sold in in these rooms, 18th November 1986, lot 80.