81 A very fine jade brush washer of oval form with gently rounded sides worked in high relief with three vigorously curling, scaly, five-clawed dragons clambering towards the rim in pursuit of a flaming pearl. The dragons’ heads are well defined, each with a broad nose, protruding eyes, a long moustache, a finely incised mane and two horns. Their bodies writhe amid swirling clouds, above churning crested waves, with a whirlpool to the base. The vessel is well hollowed and the stone is a celadon–green tone with russet areas. Late Ming dynasty Length: 6”, 15.2 cm This piece is stylistically based upon the famous Yuan vessel in the Round Fort, Beijing. For a very similarly worked bowl in the Smithsonian Institution, see Hartman, Chinese Jade of Five Centuries, pl. 8, pp. 54-5; a further, larger bowl is illustrated by Palmer in Jade as pls. 21 and 22; for a similar brush washer, see Watt, Chinese Jades from Han to Ch’ing, no. 111, pp. 134-5, also illustrated in Tsang and Moss, Arts from the Scholar’s Studio, no. 89, pp. 122-3; and for a Kangxi example, see Beurdeley, The Chinese Collector through the Centuries, cat. 64, p. 232.