Page 50 - Christie's Important Chinese Art Nov 3 2020 London

THE PROPERTY OF A LADY
*28
A RARE BLUE AND WHITE 'DRAGON' JAR
YUAN DYNASTY (1279-1368)
The exterior of the jar is painted in shades of cobalt blue to depict a band of two dragons amidst stylised
clouds, below a peony scroll encircling the shoulder.
7 7/8 in. (20 cm.) high
£60,000-80,000 US$77,000-100,000
€66,000-88,000
PROVENANCE:
Aquired in Hong Kong before 1990
Blue and white jars decorated with dragons as the principle motif are rare to find. Two examples of
large size are known: the first is in the Tokyo National Museum Collection, illustrated in The World's
Great Collections, Oriental Ceramics, vol. 1, Kodansha, Tokyo, 1982, no. 18; and the second guan was
sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 31 October 2004, lot 12. A smaller jar (22 cm. high) with a diaper band
around the mouth rim was sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 27 April 1997, lot 686. A guan designed with a
register of floral scrolls on the shoulder and lappets above the foot, is illustrated in Chinese Ceramics in
the Idemitsu Collection, Tokyo, 1987, pl. 142. Another dragon jar of a striding dragon above similar waves
but with a band of miscellaneous treasures, anbaxian, motifs within lappets on the shoulder, was sold at
Sotheby's Hong Kong, 2 May 2000, lot 650. Other jars with dragons forming the major decorative band
include the example excavated in 1966 from a hoard found at Huxi Dadui, Taoxi Town, Jintan County,
Jiangsu province, included in the exhibition, Art of Yuan Blue-and-White Porcelain, Shanghai Museum,
2012, and illustrated in the Catalogue, p. 189, no. 63. It is interesting to note that the excavated example,
now housed at the Zhenjian Museum, was discovered together with a group of silver including a dish
inscribed with an Arabic inscription dating to the 1314, ibid., p. 188. Jars designed with dragons within
a minor band at the shoulder include the example illustrated by J. Ayers (ed.), Chinese Ceramics in the
Topkapi Saray Museum, London, 1986, vol II, p. 407, col. no. 586; and the jar designed with forward and
backward-looking dragons, previously sold at Christie's Tokyo, 27 May 1969, lot 179, and later in the
Ataka Collection, illustrated by T. Nakano, The Panoramic Views of Chinese Patterns, Japan, 1985, col. pl. 9.

私人珍藏
元 青花雙龍牡丹紋罐
來源:
於1990年前購自香港

48 In addition to the hammer price, a Buyer’s Premium (plus VAT) is payable. Other taxes and/or an Artist Resale Royalty
fee are also payable if the lot has a tax or λ symbol. Check Section D of the Conditions of Sale at the back of this catalogue.