A RARE LARGE IRON-RED AND WHITE 'DRAGON' BOWL MARK AND PERIOD OF JIAJING

the deep rounded sides rising from a slightly tapered foot to a wide flared rim, boldly painted in iron red around the exterior with two imperial dragons striding among stylized clouds in pursuit of a 'flaming pearl', painted in silhouette with details added in a deeper tone, one with open jaws, the other with a clenched grinning face, their sinuous scaly bodies issuing flames, each with one of their five outstretched claws later removed on each leg, all between double-line borders encircling the rim and foot, the interior left white, the slightly convex base inscribed in underglaze blue with a six-character reign mark within a double ring

Collection of Nancy and Ira Koger.

John Ayers, Chinese Ceramics. The Koger Collection, London, 1985, pl. 79.
Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, London, 1994-2010, vol. 4, no. 1686.

There is a 1.5 cm. hairline crack to the rim and a hairline crack on the interior of the bowl going through the base of approx. 6 cm. There is a small 0.5 cm flake beneath the rim, some light rubbing in areas to the iron-red enamel, a few pinholes, brown spots and light scratching to the glaze on the interior. There is some fritting and burst air bubbles to the rim, but otherwise the bowl is in quite good condition.
"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."

A very similar bowl, broken and repaired with metal rivets, but with the five claws intact, is in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Geng Baochang, ed., Gugong Bowuyuan cang gu taoci ciliao xuancui [Selection of ancient ceramic material from the Palace Museum], Beijing, 2005, vol. 1, pl. 156, where it is mentioned, p. 182, that this overglaze-red design is very rarely seen in the Jiajing period; another bowl of this design in the Idemitsu Museum of Arts, Tokyo, was included in the exhibition Kasei Manreki no akae ten/Imperial Overglaze-Enamelled Wares in the Late Ming Dynasty, Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka, 1995, cat. no. 4; and a similar bowl from the Seligman and later the Riesco collection was sold twice in our London rooms, 11th May 1954, lot 48, and 23rd June 1970, lot 48.

Compare also a bowl of Wanli mark and period (1573-1620) decorated with red dragons, in the National Palace Museum, Taiwan, illustrated in Yeh Pei-lang [Ye Peilan], Beauty of Ceramics, vol. 7: Gems of the Wucai Porcelain, Taipei, 1996, pls. 23 and 52; and a bowl of Jiajing mark and period with a similar design in underglaze blue, also from the Koger collection like the present bowl, illustrated in Ayers, op.cit., pl. 57.

The design of dragons among clouds painted in iron red only appears already on a stembowl of Xuande mark and period, excavated from the Jingdezhen kiln site and included in the exhibition Jingdezhen chutu Yuan Ming guanyao ciqi/Yuan’s and Ming’s Imperial Porcelain Unearthed from Jingdezhen, Yan-Huang Art Museum, Beijing, 1999, cat. no. 210.