Page 331 - Bonhams Chinese Art NYC Nov 9 2017

288
A RARE BLUE AND WHITE ‘FIVE-CLAWED
DRAGON’ TAZZA
Qianlong seal mark in a line and of the period
287
Modelled as a shallow dish with angular sides
decorated with a band of undulating floral scrolls,
raised on an elegantly flaring stem foot painted
with a wrathful five-clawed dragon striding amidst
billowing clouds in pursuit of the flaming pearl, on
a ground of foaming and crashing waves and an
emerging carp.
23.1cm (9 1/8in) diam.

£4,000 - 6,000
CNY36,000 - 53,000

清乾隆 青花海水龍紋供盤
青花「大清乾隆年製」篆書款

Provenance: an English private collection, and
thence by descent

來源： 英國私人收藏，並由後人保存迄今

The theme of carp and dragons, as in the present
lot, originates from a legend that a carp which could
leap the falls of the Yellow River at Dragon Gate
would be transformed into a dragon. The motif thus
became synonymous with hopes for success or
victory.

Compare with a very similar blue and white tazza,
Kangxi six-character mark and of the period, in the
National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Blue-
and-White Ware of the Ch’ing Dynasty: Book 1, Hong
Kong, 1968, p.58, pl.13. A Qianlong reign-marked
example is illustrated in Beauty of Ceramics, vol.3:
Blue and White Porcelain, Taipei, 1993, pl.153.
288

For details of the charges payable in addition to the final Hammer Price of each Lot
please refer to paragraphs 7 & 8 of the Notice to Bidders at the back of the catalogue. FINE CHINESE ART | 329