A very rare incised blue and white 'dragon' stem bowl, Seal mark and period of Qianlong | 清乾隆 青花留白暗劃穿蓮龍紋高足盌 《乾隆年製》款

18th-century stem cups of this type are exceedingly rare; the only other known comparables include an example illustrated in Treasures in the Royalty. The Official Kiln Porcelain of the Chinese Qing Dynasty, Shanghai, 2003, pl. 268. The design is of 15th-century inspiration, very likely to be modelled after the Xuande original; the design, blurred cobalt blue, and even the slight warping of the mouth were being faithfully and carefully copied. Compare a large Xuande bowl illustrated in the Taipei Palace Museum, Blue and White Ware of the Ming Dynasty, vol. II, pl. 52, decorated with a very similar design of dragons among peony scrolls on the exterior and with a dragon and lotus medallion in the centre of the interior, all incised in white on a deep blue ground, the sides of the interior glazed in plain blue. Compare also a blue and white stem cup illustrated ibid., pl. 39, with a four-character Xuande reign mark placed in the same position inside the stem.