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Lot Essay
Although this pattern is known on Zhengde-marked dishes and zhadou, it is rare to find it on a stembowl. The only other example of this exact same pattern and size is the stembowl in the National Palace Museum, illustrated in Blue-and-White Ware of the Ming Dynasty, Book IV, CAFA, Hong Kong, 1963, p. 55, pl. 6 (see fig. 1).
Vessels of this type decorated with striding dragons on the exterior first appeared in the Yuan period. During the early Ming period, the style was first revived in the Xuande period. For a prototype from which the present example was inspired, see Ciqi Shangde Longwen, Catalogue of a Special Exhibition of Dragon-motif Porcelain in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1983, col. pl. 18. The National Palace Museum stembowl bears a reign mark of four characters as with the present vessel. The Zhengde example follows very closely to its Xuande predecessor on the exterior but the interior of the former is densely decorated with further striding dragons whilst the latter has Sanskrit design.
Vessels of this type decorated with striding dragons on the exterior first appeared in the Yuan period. During the early Ming period, the style was first revived in the Xuande period. For a prototype from which the present example was inspired, see Ciqi Shangde Longwen, Catalogue of a Special Exhibition of Dragon-motif Porcelain in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1983, col. pl. 18. The National Palace Museum stembowl bears a reign mark of four characters as with the present vessel. The Zhengde example follows very closely to its Xuande predecessor on the exterior but the interior of the former is densely decorated with further striding dragons whilst the latter has Sanskrit design.