Rare blue-white "Hué blue" porcelain dish decorated... Lot 22

Rare blue-white "Hué blue" porcelain dish decorated with a dragon sucking up the waves accompanied by a Tho symbol. Underglaze blue horizontal two-character mark "Trân Ngoan" or "jade trinket" under the base. China for Vietnam, Tây Son dynasty (1788-1802). Diameter: 14 cm. (Cracks, wear). This rare example from the Tây Son period faithfully reproduces the painted decoration on the "Nội phủ thị trung" porcelains commissioned by the Trinh lords during the 18th century, notably for their palace in Thăng Long, present-day Hanoi. In 1786, General Nguyễn Huệ (future Emperor Quang Trung) took possession of these porcelains and repatriated them to Phú Xuân (Huế). Repeating with some accuracy the decorations of the Hué blueware produced for the previous dynasty, the Vietnamese ambassadors Vietnamese ambassadors began ordering porcelain in 1789 bearing the "Trân Ngoan" mark, or "bibelot de jade" (jade trinket), written horizontally, in contrast to the vertical script usually found in the Middle Kingdom and on pieces produced for the Nguyen Court of Hué.