AN UNUSUAL LARGE BLUE AND WHITE DRAGON BOWL

Details
AN UNUSUAL LARGE BLUE AND WHITE DRAGON BOWL
DAOGUANG SEAL MARK IN UNDERGLAZE BLUE AND OF THE PERIOD

Well potted with thick, rounded sides rising to a flat rim, the exterior painted with nine dragons pursuing flaming pearls above a band of froth-capped waves, each dragon in a different position and two of them still enveloped in the waves, all between double line borders
13¼in. (33.6cm.) diam.

Lot Essay

The design of this bowl, both in its thick walls and its decoration, is most likely based on early Ming bowls also decorated with dragons and of similar shape and with similarly thick walls. See the Xuande example illustrated in Underglaze Blue & Red, Shanghai Museum, 1987, p. 68, no. 54