A fine incised white-glazed 'dragon' cup, Mark and period of Jiajing

New Jersey Private Collection.

Sotheby Parke Bernet, New York, 20th-21st November 1973, lot 297.

Delicately incised with a five-clawed dragon striding amid scrolling clouds, the decoration is rendered in fluid, painterly lines and concealed beneath a smooth, even white glaze, allowing the design to emerge subtly through light and shadow. As noted in the sixteenth century Jiangxi sheng Dazhi [Gazetteer of Jiangxi Province] (vol. 7, “Ceramics”), in the twenty-sixth year of the Jiajing reign (1547) the imperial kilns produced 3,000 white-glazed cups with incised dragon decoration; the present cup, closely related in form and decoration, may be an example of this recorded production.

Surviving examples of this type are rare. Compare a closely related example in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated on the Museum's website (accession no. 故瓷009287N000000000). See another Jiajing-marked white-glazed cup with incised lotus decoration, formerly in the Sir Percival David Collection, currently preserved in the British Museum (accession no. PDF.440).