A white biscuit Dragon Boat, Qing dynasty, 19th Century.
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Finely carved with minuite details, the vessel in the form of a scaley dragon with upturned tail, a two tier pagoda on the back, the lower level with a lattice enclosed room containing a figure standing straight gazing ahead, further the deck has figures of the daoist immortals. Sturdy columns supporting the overhanging floor of the next level, the top section with a low balustrade and a large arched gateway with a peaked tile roof.
Rowers on both sides of the vessel, the dragon head prow has its tongue and eyes made so they can move. Length 25 cm. Height 18.5 cm.
Chips, loss of decoration, repairs.
Provenance
Property of a private Swedish family collection, gathered from the 1940’s and to the present day. The two generations of collectors have shared a common interest in Chinese Works of Art, numerous has their visits been to Museums, Auction Houses and Antique Fairs around the world.
Purchased by the present owners father in Hong Kong in 1977 when on a trip with Weyland Wieslander.
Exhibitions
Compare a dragon boat sold at Sothebys, New York, 1994, Novermber 28-29. lot no 385.
Compare also a boat sold at Christies, lot 1547. 29 May 2007, Live auction, 2369. Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art
Compare a dragon boat sold at Bonhams, 8318. Fine Asian Works of Art, 20 December 2011.
Literature
Chen Guozhi can often be identified as the sculptor of these works. He
was a well-known ceramic carver, particularly those of biscuit porcelain wares, who was active during the late Daoguang period. An example of a biscuit brushpot illustrated by S. Kwan, Imperial Porcelain of Late Qing, Art Gallery, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1983, p. 18, fig. 4; and a turquoise enamelled brushpot bearing the unusual mark of Daqing Daoguang Chen Guozhi zao, 'Made in the Daoguang period of the Great Qing dynasty by Chen Guozhi', in the Baur Collection is illustrated by J. Ayers, Chinese Ceramics in the Baur Collection, Geneva, 2000, p. 236, no. 340 (A658).