A pair of aubergine-glazed  Saucer Dish. Yongzheng Marks And Period. Photo Sotheby's

each with rounded sides rising from a short foot, the exterior incised with beribboned bajixiang (Eight Buddhist Emblems), applied overall with a rich aubergine-purple glaze with a slightly iridescent sheen leaving the base white, the base inscribed with a six-character Yongzheng mark within a double circle  Quantity: 2 - 14.8cm., 5 7/8 in. Estimate 30,000-50,000 GBP

PROVENANCE  John Sparks, London.

NOTE:These finely incised dishes are notable for their rich iridescent aubergine glaze. For a related dish but of larger size, see one sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 28th April 1998, lot 758, along with a pair of smaller dishes, lot 756. A smaller dish of this type was included in the Special Exhibition of Ch'ing Dynasty Monochrome Porcelains in the National Palace Museum, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1992, cat. no. 45; one is illustrated in John Ayers, Chinese Ceramics in the Baur Collection, vol. 2, Geneva, 1999, pl. 318; two examples from the Sir Percival David collection and now in the British Museum, London, are published in Margaret Medley,Illustrated Catalogue of Ming and Ch'ing Monochrome, London, 1972, nos B585 and 586; and a pair from the Goldschmidt and Jingguantang collections, was sold twice at Christie's Hong Kong, 13th November 1990, lot 69, and 3rd November 1996, lot 562. 

 Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art. London | 09 Nov 2011 www.sothebys.com