A Yellow-glazed incised 'Dragon' bowl

Tongzhi six-character mark and of the period

Tongzhi six-character mark and of the period
The rounded sides rising from a short straight foot to a slightly everted rim, incised around the exterior with two five-clawed dragons chasing flaming pearls amidst wisps and billowing waves, applied overall with a rich egg-yolk-yellow glaze, the base glazed white. 14.3cm (5 5/8in) diam.

清同治 黃釉刻雲龍戲珠紋盌
青花「大清同治年製」楷書款

Provenance: Douglas R.A. Spankie (1929–1974), British First Secretary and Acting Consul-General, Shanghai (1962-1964), acquired during his service in Shanghai, and thence by descent

來源：道格拉斯·史本基（1929–1974），1962-1964年任英國駐上海一等秘書及代理總領事，於其任內購自上海，並由後人保存迄今

Douglas Spankie was one of an unusual and privileged group of British diplomats who served Her Majesty's Government in China between the time when the Shanghai Consulate was officially closed in 1949, and when it formally reopened in 1985. Based in the diplomatic compound in Shanghai, during his tour he was able to collect a small but interesting group of paintings and works of art. He and his young family were permitted to visit other parts of China; his daughters remember travelling to Beijing to visit the Forbidden City, and attracting great interest from the residents. The girls learned to speak fluent Chinese, the Shanghai dialect, while Spankie spoke Mandarin.

Spankie was born in 1929 and posted to Shanghai in 1962. Returning to the UK in 1964, he just missed the extreme violence of the Cultural Revolution. During his tour, he was lucky enough to be able to share in the (admittedly restricted) social and cultural life of Shanghai, even though many of his diplomatic functions were exercised through Scandinavian diplomatic intermediaries since the UK Consulate had no formal position in the PRC. Nevertheless, some of the old pre-Revolution diplomatic niceties were still observed. Low-key celebrations to mark the Queen's Birthday attracted Chinese government attendees and there was a vibrant social life for the Western diplomatic community.

Sadly, Douglas Spankie died from cancer at the very young age of 45, before his considerable talents as a diplomat could be redeployed into a full ambassadorial posting after he completed his tour in China.

Compare with a very similar pair of yellow-glazed incised 'dragon' bowls, Tongzhi six-character marks and of the period, which was sold at Bonhams London, 10 November 2016, lot 22.