A VERY RARE AUBERGINE-GLAZED GREEN-GROUND 'DRAGON' BOWL Kangxi six-character mark and of the periodA VERY RARE AUBERGINE-GLAZED GREEN-GROUND 'DRAGON' BOWLKangxi six-character mark and of the periodThe bowl with rounded sides rising from a short straight foot to an everted rim, decorated to the exterior with incised aubergine designs depicting a pair of striding five-clawed dragons amidst clouds in pursuit of 'flaming pearls', above waves breaking against stylised rocks, reserved in aubergine enamel on a rich emerald-green enamel ground, the interior and base with a transparent glaze, the six-character mark within a double circle. 13.3cm (5 1/8in) diam.清康熙 綠地紫龍紋盌青花「大清康熙年製」楷書款Provenance: S. Marchant & Son, LondonA British private collection, and thence by descent來源：倫敦古董商S. Marchant & Son英國私人收藏，並由後人保存迄今Two-coloured 'dragon' bowls and dishes displaying the same colour scheme as the present example were made throughout the Qing dynasty, however, Kangxi examples are extremely rare. The present colour combination is also known in Yongzheng, Qianlong, Jiaqing, Daoguang and Guangxu examples, and perhaps others; the largest number date from the Daoguang period.A similar green-ground aubergine-glazed 'dragon' bowl, Kangxi mark and period, is illustrated by Geng Baochang, ed., Gugong Bowuyuan cang gu taoci ciliao xuancui, vol.2, Beijing, 2005, pl.88; another in the Shanghai Museum is published by Wang Qingzheng, Kangxi Porcelain Wares from the Shanghai Museum Collection, Hong Kong, 1998, pl.196. Compare also with two other similar green and aubergine-glazed 'dragon' bowls, Kangxi marks and period, in the Helen and Peter Lin Collection, illustrated in Joined Colors, Decoration and Meaning in Chinese Porcelain, Washington, 1993, p.90, no.19 and p.91, no.20. See also another green-ground aubergine-glazed 'dragons' bowl, Kangxi six-character mark and of the period, illustrated by A.du Boulay, Christie's Pictorial History of Chinese Ceramics, Oxford, 1984, p.211, no.3.Compare with a similar aubergine-glazed green-ground 'dragon' bowl, Kangxi mark and of the period, which was sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 7 April 2010, lot 1958.