A rare incised barbed-rim yellow-glazed dish. Mark and period of Kangxi

A rare incised barbed-rim yellow-glazed dish. Mark and period of Kangxi. Photo Sotheby's

the shallow petal-shaped dish with fluted sides rising from a straight narrow foot to an everted barbed rim, finely incised on the interior with a five-clawed dragon en face among undulating waves with high crests and clouds above, surrounded by the four incised characters wan shou qi tian ('a myriad longevities, equal to heaven'), covered overall save for the base in an opaque pale yellow glaze, the base left white and inscribed with a six-character reign mark in underglaze blue; 15.9 cm., 6 1/4 in. Estimate 1,000,000—1,500,000 HKD. Lot Sold 2,180,000 HKD

PROVENANCE: Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, London (A 518).
Sotheby's London, 15th October 1968, lot 125.

EXHIBITED: Possibly: International Exhibition of Chinese Art, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1935, cat. no. 2721.

LITERATURE AND REFERENCES: Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, London, 1994-2010, vol. 2, no. 896.

NOTE: Another dish of this rare design, also from the Sir Percival David Collection is today in the British Museum, London, published in Illustrated Catalogue of Ming and Qing Monochrome Ware in the Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, London, 1989, no. A 517. This dish was one of a pair included in the International Exhibition of Chinese Art, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1935, cat. no. 2721. It is therefore possible that the present dish was its companion piece in the exhibition at the time. Although Margaret Medley lists a pair of dishes, A 517 a and b, in the 1973 edition of the Foundation's Monochrome Ware catalogue, only one companion piece appears to be in the collection today. Another pair of similar dishes from the collection of the British Rail Pension Fund was sold in these rooms 16th May 1989, lot 45; and one from the collections of Paul Baerwald and Myron S. Falk was sold at Christie's New York, 16th October 2001, lot 152.

Sotheby's. The Meiyintang Collection - An Important Selection of Imperial Chinese Porcelains. 07 Apr 11. Hong Kong www.sothebys.com