QIANLONG SIX-CHARACTER SEAL MARK IN UNDERGLAZE BLUE AND OF THE PERIOD (1736-1795)

Large dishes of this design, with a central, powerful front-facing winged dragon, first appeared during the reign of the Yongzheng Emperor (1723-35). A Yongzheng-marked example is illustrated by R. Krahl in Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, vol. II, London, 1994, pp. 130-31, no. 651. Qianlong-marked examples of this design, such as the present dish, follow the Yongzheng design with very minor differences. For an example similar to the present dish, with Qianlong mark, see A. du Boulay, Christie’s Pictorial History of Chinese Ceramics, New Jersey, 1984, p. 203, no. 2.

The prototype for the Qing-dynasty versions of this design is thought to be smaller Ming versions with dragons, such as a blue and white Xuande-period dish with central front-facing dragon enclosed by two dragons on the rim, illustrated by A. D. Brankston in Early Ming Wares of Chingtechen, Hong Kong, 1938, p. 21a.