A rare Imperial doucai 'dragon' dish

Yongzheng six-character mark and of the period

Footnotes

清雍正 鬥彩龍鳳紋盤 青花「大清雍正年製」楷書款

Provenance:
Frank Caro, New York, by repute
An Italian private collection, acquired from the above in the 1970s
Christie's London, 14 May 2013, lot 224

來源：
傳為蘆芹齋繼承人，紐約弗蘭克·卡洛舊藏
意大利私人舊藏，於1970年代購自以上來源
倫敦佳士得，2013年5月13日，拍品編號224

The doucai 'dragon' dish is very rare with similar examples in important museum collections; see a similar dish in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, museum no.C.45-1928; and another formerly in the Tsui Museum of Art, illustrated in The Tsui Musuem of Art, Chinese Ceramics IV, Qing Dynasty, Hong Kong, 1995, colour pl.126.

The dragon decoration on the present dish appears to be a direct continuation of the Kangxi period, as demonstrated in the design of the dragon on a polychrome enamelled dish, Kangxi, illustrated in The Complete Collection of the Treasures of the Palace Museum: Porcelains in Polychrome and Contrasting Colours, Shanghai, 2007, p.117, pl.107. The similarity of the central design to the Kangxi period example indicates an early Yongzheng date for the present lot, which is however of a more refined quality in its potting and enamelling characteristic of the Yongzheng period.

盤折沿，弧腹，圈足。盤外壁以青花加彩飾四隻鳳凰，間以祥雲。盤心以綠彩繪正面五爪戲珠龍紋，龍首俯視，長牙舞爪，四周圍繞火焰及祥雲。盤折沿出則以青花飾五組趕珠龍紋，口沿加金彩。盤底部青花書「大清雍正年製」六字雙圈雙行楷書款。

完全相同之例，見英國維多利亞及阿爾伯特博物館藏一件同樣的清雍正鬥彩龍鳳紋盤，館藏編號C.45-1928；另見一例，著錄於《徐氏藝術館：清代陶瓷IV》，香港，1995年，彩圖126。

此類盤心繪正面五爪龍的盤子在康熙亦有燒造，或為雍正早期作品。康熙一例，見北京故宮博物院藏五彩雲龍紋盤，《故宮博物院藏文物珍品大系：五彩·鬥彩》，香港，2007年，編號107。相比可見，雍正之例釉彩更加鮮豔，繪畫也更加細緻。