AN EXCEPTIONALLY RARE ANHUA-DECORATED BLUE AND WHITE ‘DRAGON’ STEM BOWL MARK AND PERIOD OF XUANDE

well potted with deep rounded sides rising to an everted rim supported on a tall hollow foot slightly flaring at the base, the exterior superbly painted in rich cobalt-blue tones with a pair of scaly five-clawed dragons soaring sinuously, one with its head turned back, the other with its head looking forward, above a band of jagged rocks and reserved against a meticulously rendered ground of pale blue turbulent waves, the stem similarly decorated with five jagged rocks rising from the base set against a pale blue wave ground, the interior inscribed in the centre with a six-character reign mark within a double circle, enircled by a pair of striding dragons rendered in the anhua technique around the sides
d. 15.6 cm, 6 1/8 in.

Provenance:
Christie's London, 1st April 1968, lot 121.
Sotheby's Hong Kong, 24th November 1981, lot 65.
Collection of T.Y. Chao (1912-1999).
Sotheby's Hong Kong, 20th May 1986, lot 15.