Page 70 - Bonhams Fine Chinese Art Nov 2013 London
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              A rare massive blue and copper-red
              ‘four-dragons’ fish bowl
              Kangxi
              Vividly painted on the exterior with two front-facing four-clawed
              dragons in underglaze red, each springing from foaming waves in
              pursuit of a flaming pearl, alternating with two striding four-clawed
              dragons in underglaze blue also rising from waves to clutch at two
              more pearls, all amidst fire and cloud scrolls and beneath a band of
              classic scroll at the waisted rim.
              54cm (21¼in) diam.
              £100,000 - 150,000
              HK$1,200,000 - 1,900,000	CNY980,000 - 1,500,000

              清康熙 青花釉裏紅海水雲龍紋缸
              The present lot is strikingly unusual for its dramatic contrasting of
              underglaze blue and red to create a particularly vibrant image of
              dragons pursuing the flaming pearl. Other examples of fish bowls
              from the Kangxi period separate the blue and red colours into
              different elements of the decoration, rather than painting them
              directly adjacent for a more vivid contrast. See for example a
              ‘dragon’ fish bowl primarily in underglaze red with minor details in
              blue illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace
              Museum: Blue and White Porcelain with Underglazed Red (III), Hong
              Kong, 2000, no.190. Another related example with red dragons
              contrasting with blue rockwork was sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 23
              October 2005, lot 342.
              Compare also similar combinations of blue and red painting found on
              other porcelain from the Kangxi period, for example a meiping from
              the Shanghai Museum Collection illustrated by Wang Qingzheng,
              Underglaze Blue & Red, Hong Kong, 1987, no.120.

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