Jingdezhen Qianlong-Style Blue-and-White Five-Dragon Meiping Vase

Five dragons move through ruyi clouds and cresting waves around this high-shouldered Jingdezhen meiping, each shown in a different attitude. The scene is continuous rather than frontal: dragons appear, turn, and disappear as the vase is viewed in the round.

The composition follows a celebrated Qianlong blue-and-white dragon meiping. In Beijing Ying Shi's 2012 Autumn sale, a Qianlong meiping painted with dragons among waves and auspicious clouds sold for RMB 97.75 million, approximately US$15.6 million at the time. The result brought renewed attention to the ambition of wrapping a complete imperial dragon composition around this tightly controlled form.

This 34.2 cm contemporary Jingdezhen recreation remains close to the roughly 35 cm historical scale recorded for the reference design. Hand-painted cobalt, five distinct dragons, and the changing rhythm between clouds and waves give it the presence of a serious cabinet or console piece without requiring floor-vase proportions.

• Origin: Jingdezhen, Jiangxi, China
• Material: Porcelain made from porcelain stone and kaolin
• Decoration: Hand-painted underglaze blue
• Motif: Five dragons, ruyi clouds, waves, leaf bands, and floral borders
• Form: Meiping vase
• Dimensions: 34.2 cm H x 23.6 cm body diameter / 13.5 in H x 9.3 in body diameter
• Base diameter: 13.2 cm / 5.2 in
• Mark: Decorative Qianlong-style six-character reign mark
• Design relationship: Contemporary close-scale recreation of a Qianlong five-dragon meiping design