THE ABSOLUTELY PERFECT 'J. J. LALLY' AUBERGINE AND GREEN-GLAZED ‘DRAGON’ BOWL, KANGXI MARK AND PERIOD

Expert’s note: The design derives from a Ming dynasty prototype, exemplified by a larger bowl bearing a Wanli reign mark, illustrated in Porcelain of the National Palace Museum: Enameled Ware of the Ming Dynasty, Hong Kong, 1966, vol. III, pl. 9.
According to Chuimei Ho and Bennett Bronson, the emperor seldom dined with his family, doing so primarily on special occasions such as the Lantern Festival, celebrated on the fifteenth day of the New Year. On this occasion, the women who shared the imperial table were provided with ceramic and lacquer wares strictly prescribed according to rank. Green-glazed porcelains decorated with purple dragons appear to have been reserved for sixth-rank guiren consorts; see Splendours of China’s Forbidden City: The Glorious Reign of Emperor Qianlong, 2004, pp. 197–202.
Two-color dragon bowls and dishes of this type were produced throughout the Qing dynasty, beginning in the Kangxi reign; however, Kangxi examples are extremely rare, particularly in pristine condition. It is conceivable that no other example outside museum collections survives in such an exceptionally well-preserved state. The same color combination is documented on wares from the Yongzheng, Qianlong, Jiaqing, Daoguang, and Guangxu periods, with the largest number of extant examples dating to the Daoguang reign.

China, 1662-1722. The steep rounded sides rising towards the gently flared rim, finely incised and painted on the exterior in aubergine with five-clawed dragons striding amidst flames and clouds in pursuit of flaming pearls above a band of waves crashing on rocks, all reserved on a vivid green-glazed ground. The interior and the base left white, the latter with an underglaze-blue six-character mark da Qing Kangxi nianzhi within a double circle and of the period.

Provenance: A private collection in New York, United States. J. J. Lally, no. 4718 (labels to base and box), New York. Christie's New York, 23 March 2023, lot 903, sold for USD 100,800 or approx. EUR 98,000 (converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing). The Santos Collection, no. 3347 (label to interior), London, acquired from the above. The box with two labels from the 2023 Christie’s sale. James J. Lally was a renowned antique dealer and connoisseur, recognized as one of the greatest scholar-dealers of Chinese art, who has been a leader in the field for more than 40 years. After graduating from Harvard College and Columbia University, Lally joined Sotheby’s where he held many positions within the Chinese art department. In 1970 he served as the director of Chinese works of art at Sotheby’s in New York and Hong Kong, and by 1983 was named president of Sotheby’s in North America. In 1986, he founded his namesake gallery, J. J. Lally & Co. Lally fondly recalls the moment, not long after he opened his gallery, when a young man walked through the door with a Shang Dynasty gong—a bronze vessel shaped like a gravy boat—decorated with a dragon and tiger and in beautiful condition. It was, Lally described, “one of the most important objects I ever had in my hands.” The young man said he had inherited it from his father and was not really interested in Chinese art himself. He wanted to buy a sailboat and wondered if the gong was valuable enough to pay for that. “I was very happy to tell him that it was valuable enough to buy two sailboats,” Lally noted. The gallery helped to establish New York as a major center of commerce for Chinese art and allowed Lally to concentrate on his own specific interests, particularly early ceramics, ritual bronze vessels, archaic jade carvings, and sculpture. Lally brought a learned approach to his work, publishing detailed, scholarly catalogs that have remained important reference guides within the field. This meticulous approach continued when he produced his own exhibitions and catalog. Giuseppe Eskenazi, dubbed the “Godfather of Chinese Antiques,” and one of the world’s most esteemed Chinese art dealers, also spoke highly of Lally for his achievements in the industry, alongside William Chak from Hong Kong, and the Marchant family from London. In the spring of 2023, Christie’s and Bonhams conducted single owner sales of Lally’s collection which broke several auction records. Alberto Santos is an international dealer and collector of Chinese porcelain, active in the field since 1979. He first established himself as a gallery owner in London before transitioning in 1999 to working privately, while continuing to exhibit at major international art fairs around the world. Santos specializes in Song to Qing dynasty ceramics and has built a reputation for sourcing rare and high-quality works for private collectors, museums, interior designers, and dealers worldwide. He also authored Yongzheng, A Private Collection, and collaborated between 2005 and 2009 on the publication Portugal in Porcelain from China: 500 Years of Trade.
Condition: Superb condition with only minor wear and minimal firing irregularities.

Weight: 80.4 g
Dimensions: Diameter 10.4 cm

With a padded box. (2)

Literature comparison:
Compare a closely related aubergine and green dragon bowl, also with a Kangxi mark and of the period, 10.2 cm diameter, in the Rijksmuseum, object number AK-RBK-1955-10-A, and another (13.1 cm diameter) formerly in the Avery Brundage Collection and now in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, object number B60P1575. Compare a similar Kangxi bowl, preserved in the Palace Museum, Beijing, and published in Geng Baochang, ed., Gugong Bowuyuan cang gu taoci ciliao xuancui [Selection of ancient ceramic material from the Palace Museum], vol. 2, Beijing, 2005, pl. 88. Another bowl is kept in the Shanghai Museum and illustrated in Wang Qingzheng, ed., Kangxi Porcelain Wares from the Shanghai Museum Collection, Shanghai, 1998, pl. 196. Two Kangxi-marked bowls of this form and size, formerly in the Helen and Peter Lin Collection, are published in Joined Colors: Decoration and Meaning in Chinese Porcelain, Chinese Ceramics from the Min Chiu Society, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., 1993, pp. 90-91, nos. 19 and 20.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Near identical
Auction: Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 7 April 2013, lot 3180
Estimate: HKD 1,800,000 or approx. EUR 266,000 (for two) converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A pair of green-and-aubergine bowls, marks and period of Kangxi
Expert remark: Compare the near identical form, decoration, colors, motifs, and reign mark. Note that according to the Sotheby’s’ condition report, each bowl has a 5 mm hairline from the rim.