A very large and rare cloisonné enamel Imperial dragon charger, China, Ming dynasty. Photo Nagel Auktionen
Of circular form with a large five-clawed yellow dragon above waves and a further smaller red dragon. The border depicts twelve lotos blossoms amidst scrollwork. Minor losses to enamels, minor wear. D. 63 cm. Estimate 80 000 - 120 000 €
Provenance: Private collection Rhineland, bought in London in the 1980'ies
Cf. for an imperial dish in the Qing Court collection, see 'Metal-bodied Enamel Ware, The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum', Hong Kong, 2002, pl. 47; another is in the British Museum, illustrated by H. Brinker and A. Lutz, Chinese Cloisonne: The Pierre Uldry Collection, 1989, fig. 61, where the authors discuss a similar dish in the National Palace Museum, where the mark has been effaced and replaced by an engraved apocryphal Jingtai mark; an unpublished example is in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
An example of a basin in situ in the Chuxiugong, 'Palace of Gathering Excellence', supported on an elaborate rosewood stand inlaid with mother-of-pearl, is illustrated in Life of the Emperors and Empresses in the Forbidden City, p. 81.
Nagel Auktionen. Asian Art, 2013/05/10. http://www.auction.de