KANGXI PERIOD (1662-1722)

'The nine dragons' are said to be the guardians of the Gate of Heaven, and symbolise the yang. Combining this imperial motif, very finely rendered in copper-red, which was extremely difficult to fire as successfully as on this classic Kangxi period shape, demonstrates the reassertion of imperial control over the kilns. The present vase appears to be unique, and the closest comparison is a Kangxi vase of similar shape decorated with two four-clawed copper-red dragons with underglaze-blue and celadon glaze decorations in the Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, see J.B. Curtis’ Chinese Porcelain of the Seventeenth Century- Landscapes, Scholars’ Motifs and Narratives, New York, 1995, p. 29, fig 5. A copper-red-decorated jar with two similar dragons but five claws, and eyes also highlighted in underglaze-blue, is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Blue and White Porcelain with Underglazed Red (III), Hong Kong, 2010, p. 208, no. 190. For another comparable jar with the same five-clawed copper-red dragons design with additional enamels, see Qing Porcelain of Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong Periods from the Palace Museum Collection, Hong Kong, 1989, p.43, no.26.