A CHINESE IMPERIAL YELLOW-GROUND GREEN ENAMELLED 'DRAGON' MEDALLION BOWL

SIX CHARACTER YONGZHENG MARK AND OF THE PERIOD 1723-1735

The deep rounded sides raised on a short tapered foot and gently flaring towards the rim, the lemon-yellow exterior finely incised and enamelled with four apple-green medallions, each shaped as a scaly five-clawed dragon entwined with fiery tendrils in pursuit of a flaming pearl, with wispy ruyi-shaped clouds dividing the beasts, all above a band of lotus-shaped lappets, the interior similarly decorated with a writhing dragon leaping towards a single sacred pearl, the base with a six character Yongzheng mark in underglaze blue within a double circle, together with a wood stand, 14.3cm dia. (2)

Provenance: from the collection of Mr Charles Sydney Cheston, painter, d.1960, and thence by descent, recorded in Charles Cheston's 1946 catalogue as purchased for £15 from Hawley.

Cf. The Pilkington Collection of Chinese Art, Hong Kong, 6th April 2016, p.226, no.56 for a comparable Yongzheng yellow-ground green-enamelled 'dragon' medallion bowl.