A small blue and white 'lotus bouquet' saucer dish. Qianlong seal mark and of the period. Photo Bonhams

Brightly painted in the central roundel with a bouquet of lotus tied with flowing ribbons, surrounded by a scroll of blooms and tendrils beneath a decorative band at the rim, the exterior similarly decorated with a leiwen band at the rim. 18.2cm (7 1/8in) diam. Sold for £34,850

Provenance: with a paper label 'Mallie & Co., Paris'
Christie's London, 15 November 2000, lot 50
The Inder Rieden Collection

The present lot has been inspired in its decoration by early Ming Dynasty dishes, and is a continuation of Yongzheng copies of Ming prototypes. For a Yongle dish similarly painted with a lotus bouquet, see Sotheby's Paris, 16 December 2010, lot 32. Compare a Yongzheng mark and of the period 'lotus bouquet' dish, illustrated in Treasures in the Royalty: The Official Kiln Porcelain of the Chinese Qing Dynasty, 2003, p.122. A similarly painted dish, but slightly larger and yellow enamelled, Qianlong mark and of the period, is illustrated by R.Krahl, in Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, Vol.II, London, Catalogue no.763.

Bonhams. Fine Chinese Art, 10 Nov 2011, New Bond Street  www.bonhams.com