A rare yellow-ground green-enamelled 'dragon and phoenix' bowl


Kangxi six-character mark and of the periodWith deep rounded sides rising from a tapered foot to a gently flaring rim, the exterior delicately incised and enamelled in green on a bright egg-yolk yellow ground with a band of two five-clawed dragons striding amongst flames in pursuit of flaming pearls, above five phoenix roundels divided by stylised cloud scrolls, the interior painted in underglaze blue with a central medallion enclosing a stylised shou character within double-line borders repeated at the rim. 15cm (5 8/9in) diam.
|清康熙 黃地綠彩龍鳳紋盌青花「大清康熙年製」楷書款Provenance: a European private collection來源：歐洲私人收藏The present bowl is rare and unique to the Kangxi period, depicting both phoenix roundels below dragons in a green and yellow palette. Yellow-glazed wares with green dragons are mentioned in Palace regulations as having been reserved for the Imperial consorts or the highest-ranking concubines. The present variation of 'phoenix and dragon' bowls may have been produced for a special occasion, such as a birthday, as suggested by the auspicious 'longevity' (shou 壽) character depicted on the interior.Only a small number of this type of bowl has been published. An identical bowl, Kangxi mark and period, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, is illustrated in Good Fortune, Long Life, Health, and Peace: A Special Exhibition of Porcelains with Auspicious Designs, Taipei, 1995, pl.19; a second example, Kangxi mark and period, formerly in the Tsui Museum of Art, is illustrated in Chinese Ceramics IV. Qing Dynasty, Hong Kong, 1995, pl.111, and a third bowl is illustrated by S.Jenyns, Later Chinese Porcelain, London, 1951, pl.LXIX, no.2.Compare with a very similar bowl, Kangxi six-character mark and of the period, which was sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 1 June 2011, lot 2863.