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A Rare Blue and White 'Mythical Beast' Dish, Wanli Mark and Period - Photo Sotheby's
the shallow rounded sides supported on a straight foot, painted to the central medallion with mythical beasts amongst a river landscape, encircled by pacing dragons in pursuit of flaming pearls at the rim, the exterior with detached flowering and fruiting sprays, inscribed with a six-character Wanli mark within a double-circle; 24.1cm., 9 1/2 in. Estimation: 15,000 - 20,000 GBP
PROVENANCE: Sotheby's Hong Kong, 20th May 1980, lot 48.
Christie's Tokyo, 15th February 1981, lot 340.
Sotheby's London, 16th June 1982, lot 304.
NOTE DE CATALOGUE: The present piece belongs to a small group of blue-and-white Wanli mark and period dishes all bearing a different landscape scene in the interior, while retaining the dragon design band around the rim and the exterior decorated with alternating floral and fruit sprays. For example, see a larger dish, the centre painted with boys at play, from the Clark and Palmer collections illustrated in Sir Harry Garner, Oriental Blue and White, London, 1973, pl. 53B, with four leaping dragons shown full-face around the rim; another, also decorated with the boys theme, sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 14th November 1989, lot 39; and a third example included in the exhibition The Fame of Flame. Imperial Wares of the Jiajing and Wanli Periods, University Museum of Art Gallery, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 2010, cat. no. 89, from the Songde Tang collection.
Dishes of this type can also be found with the inner wall painted with the ‘dragon and phoenix’ motif, such as the dish included ibid., cat. no. 90, with the centre depicting a figural scene from the Han dynasty novel Biographies of Immortals by Liu Xiang and the outer wall painted with floral and fruit sprays as seen on this example. Compare also a dish sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 27th November 2007, lot 1743; and another, from the Jingguantang collection, sold at Christie’s New York, 16th September 1998, lot 366.
Sotheby's. Treasures of the Qing Court, A Personal Perspective. London | 07 nov. 2012 www.sothebys.com
