KANGXI SIX-CHARACTER MARK IN UNDERGLAZE BLUE WITHIN A DOUBLE CIRCLE AND OF THE PERIOD (1662-1722)

A similar Kangxi dish of comparable size (13.9 in.), also with an everted rim, is illustrated by Hobson in The George Eumorfopolous Collection Catalogue of Chinese Ceramics and Persian Pottery and Porcelain, vol. V, 1927, pl. XXXVIII, no. E199. Another of smaller size (12½ in.) in the British Museum is illustrated by Hobson, Rackham and King in Chinese Ceramics in Private Collections, London, 1931, p. 127, fig. 229. See, also, the similar dish of smaller size (12¾ in.) sold at Christie's London, 11 May 2010, lot 235.
The design of these dishes appears to be based on Wanli prototypes, such as the smaller dish (28.3 cm.) decorated in a similar palette on the biscuit with a related design of two dragons contesting a flaming pearl above a rock and waves, below flowering and fruiting sprigs in the well, illustrated by R. Scott and R. Kerr in the exhibition catalogue, Ceramic Evolution in the Middle Ming Period: Hongzhi to Wanli (1488-1620), the Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art and the Victoria and Albert Museum, 8 September 1994 - 7 February 1995, p. 27, no. 41.