A BLUE AND WHITE 'DRAGON' VASE, MEIPING 18th century (2)A BLUE AND WHITE 'DRAGON' VASE, MEIPING18th centuryElegantly potted with curved sides gently rising to generous rounded shoulders surmounted by a short waisted neck, slightly indented, and a lipped rim, boldly painted around the body in vibrant cobalt-blue with a four-clawed dragon chasing a flaming pearl amidst scrolling ruyi head clouds and flames over crashing waves around the foot, all below a band of clouds around the neck, the footring left unglazed, box. 30cm (11 3/4in) high. (2).十八世紀 青花雲龍紋梅瓶 Provenance:Sotheby's London, 5 November 2014, lot 247來源:倫敦蘇富比，2014年11月5日，拍品編號247Considering the writhing four-clawed mang dragon depicted on the present meiping vase, it is likely to have been commissioned by an Imperial prince or nobility of equally ranked status since the 'four-clawed dragon' motif was reserved only for this group to use. The unusual design on its neck and shoulder relates to a fascinating group of apple-shaped water pots made in the Kangxi period. See also a clair-de-lune-glazed water pot in the Baur Collection, illustrated in A Millenium of Monochromes from the Great Tang to the High Qing: The Baur and the Zhuyuetang Collections, Geneva, 2018, p.220, no.82.圓唇外翻，縮頸，圓肩，腹向下斜收，平底內收成圈足，身繪青花四爪行龍一尾，龍回首追逐一火龍珠，瓶身另一面亦繪火龍珠一枚，瓶身空白處滿繪如意雲頭紋及火紋，近圈足處繪海水波濤，通體施透明釉。 此梅瓶形制特別，頸內縮，類似康熙時之蘋果洗，參考日內瓦鮑氏東方藝術館藏一件康熙月白釉蘋果洗，本件梅瓶之肩頸部處理與其相似，見《千載霓霞—鮑氏東方藝術館及竹月堂藏唐至清一道釉》，日內瓦，2018年，頁220，編號82。瓶身繪四爪龍紋，雖無款識，但繪製生猛，燒製精緻，或為王府訂燒作品。明代藩王瓷器多落某王府款識，而清代則少見王府名款，直到道光年間方出現「定府」款識之瓷器，在此之前王府親貴所燒瓷器多落堂號款。許之衡總結清代王府親貴所造瓷器款識，「敬畏堂、正誼書屋、在雍乾間，寧靜、寧晉、寧遠、德誠諸齋在乾嘉間」，見許之衡著，《飲流齋說瓷》，北京，1990年，頁96。除堂號款可辨知為王府燒造之外，此件所繪四爪龍紋可作為王府親貴訂燒之依據。龍四爪為蟒，清代規定貝勒、貝子、鎮國公、輔圍公等可穿戴有四爪九蟒的蟒袍，則此件梅瓶或為這一級別之勛戚所訂製。