Page 88 - Christie's Hong Kong November 29, 2022 Fine Chinese Works of Art

2970 Continued

‘The nine dragons’ are said to be the guardians of the
Gate of Heaven, and symbolise the yang. Combining
this imperial motif, very finely rendered in copper-red,
which was extremely difficult to fire as successfully as
on this classic Kangxi period shape, demonstrates the
reassertion of imperial control over the kilns. The present
vase appears to be unique, and the closest comparison
is a Kangxi vase of similar shape decorated with two
four-clawed copper-red dragons with underglaze-blue
and celadon glaze decorations in the Percival David
Foundation of Chinese Art, see J.B. Curtis’ Chinese
Porcelain of the Seventeenth Century- Landscapes, Scholars’
Motifs and Narratives, New York, 1995, p. 29, fig 5. A
copper-red-decorated jar with two similar dragons but
five claws, and eyes also highlighted in underglaze-blue,
is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the
Palace Museum, Blue and White Porcelain with Underglazed
Red (III), Hong Kong, 2010, p. 208, no. 190. For another
comparable jar with the same five-clawed copper-
red dragons design with additional enamels, see Qing
Porcelain of Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong Periods from the
Palace Museum Collection, Hong Kong, 1989, p.43, no.26.

龍象徵陽氣，而相傳看守天門的正是九龍。此拍品所
繪九龍不僅生動細緻，形象更是威武矯健，充分展現
當時製瓷技術之精湛。此觀音尊或為孤品，最近似之
例為大維德中國藝術基金會藏一青釉青花釉裏紅波
濤龍紋瓶，載於《Chinese Porcelains of the Seventeenth
Century: Landscapes, Scholars' Motifs and Narratives》，
紐約，1995年，頁29，圖版5。相對較常見以青花點睛且
風格相似之釉裏紅五爪龍紋可參考一雙龍戲珠紋缸，
載於故宮博物院藏文物珍品全集，《青花釉裏紅（下）
》，香港，2000年，頁208，圖版109；另一釉裏紅加彩之
相似例載於《故宮珍藏康雍乾瓷器圖錄》，香港，1989
年，頁43，編號26。

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