A RARE PAIR OF CHINESE EXPORT PORCELAIN DRAGON CARP TUREENS AND COVERS
A RARE PAIR OF CHINESE EXPORT PORCELAIN DRAGON CARP TUREENS AND COVERS

QIANLONG PERIOD

Details
A RARE PAIR OF CHINESE EXPORT PORCELAIN DRAGON CARP TUREENS AND COVERS
QIANLONG PERIOD
Each modeled swimming with upturned tail, its head with gilt tentacles and gilt horns enclosing crossed tufts of brown hair, a row of spiny fins on its back serving as a handle for the cover
8¼ in. (21 cm.) long (4)

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Lot Essay

With their bulging black eyes and iron-red scaly bodies, these snarling dragon fish tureens are reminiscent of other very rare Chinese marine life tureens, the eccentric crabs and magnificent large carp. Dragons, though often depicted with fierce demeanor, are benevolent symbols in traditional Chinese culture, and closely associated with carp because of the famous Dragon Gate myth in which a carp swimming upstream becomes a dragon, symbolizing perseverance and strength.

Another pair of this very rare form (with a single stand) is in the RA Collection of Chinese Ceramics and illustrated by M.A.P. de Matos, A Collector's Vision, Jorge Welsh Oriental Books, 2011, p 110.

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