DAOGUANG IRON-RED SIX-CHARACTER SEAL MARKS AND OF THE PERIOD (1821-1850)

One of the earliest symbolic motifs from antiquity which continued to have resonance was the ultimate symbol of power, the dragon (emperor), and his consort, the phoenix (empress). The form of rank and importance became formalised in the Yuan period (1279-1367) when three-clawed (princely), and five-clawed (Imperial) dragons first appear in jade and porcelain before male and female Imperial beasts were conjoined in symbolic Imperial union in the early Ming. Into the Qing court, the combination of dragon and phoenix was particularly popular in Kangxi famille verte ware, including Kangxi-marked dishes and bowls in the collection of the Palace Museum, see Porcelains in Polychrome and Contrasting Colours, The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 1999, pls. 133 and 135. These examples depicting striding five-clawed dragons and fanciful phoenixes amidst flowers are believed to be made for Imperial use.

The current pair of jars painted with similar elaborate dragons and phoenix in iron-red appears to be a unique design made for the Daoguang court. Compare to a smaller Kangxi-marked lidded jar depicting dragons chasing pearls amidst clouds in the doucai technique with green glaze, also bordered between small cloud collars and lotus lappets, ibid., pl. 190.

Compare also to a pair of qin-shaped covered boxes of Daoguang mark and period, decorated in iron-red with the same motif of dragons and pheonix amidst a peony scroll, illustrated in Qingdai ciqi shangjian, Hong Kong, 1994, no. 315.