A BLUE AND WHITE ‘DRAGON’ BOMBÉ CENSER, TRANSITIONAL TO EARLY KANGXI PERIODChina, c. 1630-1680. Boldly painted to the exterior with a pair of confronted sinuous four-clawed dragons centered by a flaming pearl below a band of clouds. Covered overall with a transparent glaze save for a central circular section to the interior and the foot rim. The recessed base with a double circle.Provenance: Property of a Gentleman, acquired in 1986. Sotheby’s New York, 23 March 2019, lot 1520, estimate of USD 6,000 or approx.EUR 6,300 (converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing).Condition: Good condition with minor wear and firing irregularities, including small glaze recesses, dark spots, minute firing cracks, and scattered burst glaze bubbles. The rim with a short hairline crack and few tiny frits.Weight: 1,900 gDimensions: Diameter 23.8 cmExpert’s note: During the early Qing dynasty, up until the 1680s, conditions were unsettled in China and the making of Imperial wares as well as the use of reign marks on porcelain was restricted in various ways. During this period, different types of other marks came into use, including lingzhi fungus marks anddouble circles.Literatureparison:A related censer bearing a Chongzhen mark in the Butler Family Collection, similarly decorated with a pair of five-clawed dragons, with a dedicatory inscription dated to 1639, is illustrated in Shanghai Museum (ed.), Seventeenth Century Jingdezhen Porcelain from the Shanghai Museum and the Butler Collection: Beauty's Enchantment, Shanghai, 2005, pp. 78-79, cat. 7. Another Shunzhi period example in the Beijing Palace Museum, cyclically dated to 1659, is illustrated by Chen Runmin, Qing Dynasty Blue and White Porcelain, Beijing, 2005, pp.52-53.Auction resultparison:Type: Closely relatedAuction: Sotheby’s New York, 28 September 2021, lot 712Price: USD 9,450 or approx.EUR 9,400 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writingDescription: A blue and white ‘dragon’ bombé censer, 17th centuryExpert remark:pare the closely related bombé form, blue and white decoration with similar four-clawed dragons, double-circle mark, and size (23.8 cm).明清過渡時期至康熙初年青花龍紋爐中國，約1630-1680年。球狀爐身，三個小圓錐形足，縮頸，爐唇外翻。青花描繪雙龍戲珠紋。圈足内雙圈款。