Page 64 - Bonhams Asian Art London November 5, 2020

Image courtesy of the Palace Museum, Beijing

The present pair of iron-red and green-enamelled ‘dragon’ jars,
Yongzheng marks and period, is exceedingly rare and only a single
example, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, appears to have been
published; see The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace
Museum: Miscellaneous Enamelled Porcelains Plain Tricoloured
Porcelains, Shanghai, 2009, pl.253.

The decoration on the present jars was inspired by Chenghua Period
design, but more closely, is a direct continuation of the Kangxi period,
as demonstrated in the design of dragons on an iron-red cup and
saucer, Kangxi, illustrated in Ceramics Gallery of the Palace Museum:
Part II, Beijing, 2010, pl.320. The similarity to the Kangxi example and
indeed the colour scheme, indicate an early Yongzheng period for the
present lot. However, whilst probably near in date to the Kangxi period,
the refined quality characteristic of Yongzheng period porcelains is
apparent, both in the quality of the potting and the meticulous and
delicate enamelling.

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