Signed Chinese Porcelain, S. XIX

Beautiful and antique soup tureen with lid made of hand-painted white porcelain. This amazing piece comes from China and was made in the late 1900s, in the reign of Qing Dynasty (1644-1912). This Dynasty, also known as Manchu Dynasty, was the last in ruling over China before the arrival of the communist regime and the establishment of the People Republic of China. The soup tureen is in perfect condition in spite of its ancient age, boasting its beautiful colors as vivid and deep as the first day. The motives have been painted by hand and we can see they were performed by a skillful artist.On a white porcelain background the decoration depicts two Chinese imperial dragons with five fingers in each claw (a symbol of good fortune). The dragon is probably the most important animal in Chinese mythology, and it is responsible of water and a symbol of the Emperor. In this piece we can see two dragons painted in the bowl and in the lid, one in red and the other in green. They are evolving on the white background and are surrounded by decorative details in delicate colors: red, blue and pink, probably depicting waves or clouds. The bowl and the lid boast also edges decorated with nice abstract classical fringes in fine pale colors: orange, blue, pink and green.The dragons are painted in detail and show a high expressiveness, both in their faces and in the way they twist their bodies. They seem to be alive and about to leave the porcelain. The great beauty of the hand-painted decoration joins with the fact that both pieces are signed to make up an exceptional piece: the bowl and the lid show four red Chinese ideograms each which testify for the authorship of the piece and the time of making. This detail is surely the finishing touch for a real quality collectors item that will shine in the best exhibition of antique oriental porcelain.Measurements: Bowl: 250 mm diam. Lid: 200 mm diam.