A fine and rare blue and white ‘dragon’ tazza, Mark and period of Yongzheng | 清雍正　青花躍龍戲珠紋供盤　《大清雍正年製》款

Sotheby's Hong Kong, 16th May 1989, lot 249.

Powerfully designed and exquisitely painted with a five-clawed dragon, this type of blue and white tazzas is demonstrative of emperorship. The application of cobalt blue in shaded tones around the tall wide stem transforms the auspicious decoration into a vivid, awe-inspiring scene imbued with movement.

Such stem dishes were used for food offerings. Archaeological excavations have traced the form to the Northern Qi (550-577), with further extant examples confirming its prevalence during the Sui (581-618) and Tang (618-907) periods. Compare a celadon-glazed tazza dated to the Sui period, in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing, accession no. 新00140853; and a Tang sancai example, included in the exhibition of the Oriental Ceramic Society, The Arts of the T’ang Dynasty, London, 1955, cat. no. 143. Early Qing emperors displayed a passion for archaism in their imperial porcelain production, and the adoption of this form corroborates this fondness.

While more are dated to the Kangxi and Qianlong periods, tazzas of the Yongzheng mark and period are very scarce, and no other Yongzheng example appears to survive besides the current piece. Compare one dated to Kangxi, in the Palace Museum, Taipei, included in the Illustrated Catalogue of Ch'ing Dynasty Porcelain in the Palace Museum, Taipei, vol. 1, 1980, pl. 15. See also two Qianlong examples, one illustrated in Beauty of Ceramics, vol.3: Blue and White Porcelain, Taipei, 1993, pl. 153, the other sold in these rooms, 15th May 1990, lot 159.

來源

香港蘇富比1989年5月16日，編號249

此類青花供盤紋飾恢弘，繪五爪飛龍馳騁於海水江崖間，氣勢磅礴，為帝王像徵。高足寬綽，繞飾一周，鈷藍設色含明暗變化，祥瑞紋飾頓成生動畫面，兼具動感與威嚴。

供盤作外撇高足，原盛放食物用於供奉。據考古發現，此類高足供盤早在北齊（550-577年）已有，從存世例看，可知此器形於隋（581-618年）、唐（618-907年）流行。比一隋代青釉例，藏故宮博物院，北京，藏品編號新00140853；及一唐代三彩例，展於東方陶瓷學會，《The Arts of the T’ang Dynasty》，倫敦，1955年，編號143。清初天子崇古，御瓷燒製多有體現，此供盤所採形制亦可為證。

同類供盤多為康、乾年款，雍正年款者甚罕，此件之外尚未尋見其他。比一康熙例，藏故宮博物院，台北，錄《故宮清瓷圖錄》，台北，卷上，1980年，圖版15。另比二乾隆例，其一，錄《Beauty of Ceramics, vol.3: Blue and White Porcelain》，台北，1993年，圖版153，其二，售於香港蘇富比1990年5月15日，編號159。