Page 133 - Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art II
P. 133
THE PROPERTY OF A LADY
2283
A MASSIVE BLUE AND WHITE ‘DRAGON’
VASE
GUANGXU PERIOD (1875-1908)
The sides are decorated with nine fve-
clawed dragons pursuing faming pearls
above roiling waves.
57 in. (144.8 cm.) high
$20,000-30,000
PROVENANCE:
Acquired in Seattle in the 1970s.
Similarly rendered dragons can be seen on a
blue and white jardinière dated to the Guangxu
period sold at Christie’s New York, 18-19
September 2014, lot 933.
The horned, fve-clawed, long dragon was
a symbol of the emperor, and nine was a
number reserved for the emperor - being the
largest single digit number. Dragons were often
specifcally associated with the number nine
and it was believed that the dragon had nine
attributes and also had nine sons. It was also
thought that its body had 117 scales - a multiple
of nine (9 x 13) of which 81 were yang scales (9
x 9) and 36 were yin scales (9 x 4).
清光緒 青花九龍紋大棒槌方瓶
131
