Footnotes

• 清雍正 礬紅海水龍紋罐一對
  青花「大清雍正年製」楷書款
  
  Provenance: acquired from Alfred Speelman Ltd, London, on 6 June 1968
  An important European private collection, and thence by descent
  
  來源: 於1968年6月6日購自倫敦古董商Alfred Speelman
  重要歐洲私人收藏，並由後人保存迄今
  
  The present pair of iron-red and green-enamelled 'dragon' jars, Yongzheng marks and period, is exceedingly rare and only a single example, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, appears to have been published; see The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Miscellaneous Enamelled Porcelains Plain Tricoloured Porcelains, Shanghai, 2009, pl.253.
  
  The decoration on the present jars was inspired by Chenghua Period design, but more closely, is a direct continuation of the Kangxi period, as demonstrated in the design of dragons on an iron-red cup and saucer, Kangxi, illustrated in Ceramics Gallery of the Palace Museum: Part II, Beijing, 2010, pl.320. The similarity to the Kangxi example and indeed the colour scheme, indicate an early Yongzheng period for the present lot. However, whilst probably near in date to the Kangxi period, the refined quality characteristic of Yongzheng period porcelains is apparent, both in the quality of the potting and the meticulous and delicate enamelling.