Underglaze cobalt, transparent glaze. Although the eight-pointed broken (mei ping) form fits well into the formal canon (among others) of the Quianlong period, the type and style of the underglaze blue decoration suggests that the object was created much later. The mark on the base is to be understood as retrospective. The decoration of (similar) dragons and phoenixes arranged alternately above a wave frieze at the base of the vase, rising on a trailing flower stem, symbolically reflects imperial grandeur and has highly decorative qualities due to the brisk, expert painting technique.
Yung Cheng mark in a double ring; Japanese provenance (Arita) cannot be ruled out
