A rare copper-red and underglaze-blue decorated 'Dragon' fish bowl, Qing dynasty, Kangxi period. Estimate 40,000 — 60,000 GBP. Photo Sotheby's
the sturdily potted bowl with deep sides gently curving up to the lipped rim, the exterior painted in underglaze-red with two ferocious five-clawed dragons striding in pursuit of flaming pearls, all amidst flames and clouds and above breaking waves, the dragon's eyes in underglaze-blue - 36.5cm., 14 1/4 in.
Notes: This fishbowl is notable for its bold and striking image of dragons above crested waves. A closely related fishbowl in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Blue and White Porcelain with Underglazed Red (III), Shanghai, 2000, pl. 190; and another is illustrated in Sekai tōji zenshū [Catalogue of World’s Ceramics], vol. 12, Tokyo, 1956, pl. 25. See also a fishbowl of this form and design, but the waves decorated in green and black enamels, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, published in Gu taoci ziliao xuancui, vol. 2, Beijing, 2005, pl. 26; and another lacking the waves, sold twice in our Hong Kong rooms, 25th November 1987, lot 102, and 23rd October 2005, lot 342.
Compare also a larger fishbowl similarly painted in underglaze blue and copper red with dragons above waves but modelled with straight sides, illustrated in John Ayers, Chinese Ceramics in the Baur Collection, vol. 2, Geneva, 1999, pl. 198; another sold in these rooms, 25th June 1980, lot 64; and a third sold twice in these rooms, 3rd December 1974, lot 531, and 2ndNovember 1982, lot 71.
Sotheby's. Important Chinese Art, Londres, 13 mai 2015, 11:00 AM