WANLI SIX-CHARACTER MARK IN UNDERGLAZE BLUE WITHIN A DOUBLE CIRCLE AND OF THE PERIOD (1573-1619)

It is very rare to find blue and white ‘dragon’ bowl of this pattern and exceptionally large size from the Wanli period. The current bowl was probably made during the early Wanli period as bowls of similar patterns can be found on Longqing-marked examples, such as one of slightly smaller size (22.5 cm. diam.) from the collections of Woodbridge, Mr. and Mrs. Eugene Bernat, and Dr. Ip Yee, sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 19 November 1984, lot 189, and a smaller bowl (12.7 cm. diam.) from the J.M. Hu Collection, sold at Christie’s New York, 20 March 2014, lot 2116, but with a double-and single-dragon roundel on the interior, respectively.