Lot 4. A Fine Pair of Lemon-Yellow Saucer Dishes, Marks and period of Yongzheng (1723-1735); 14.6 and 14.9 cm, 5 3/4 and 5 7/8 in. Estimate 700,000 - 900,000 HKD. Lot sold 1,700,000 HKD. Photo Sotheby's 2012

each thinly potted with a slightly recessed centre, the shallow rounded translucent sides rising from a wide tapered foot, the exterior covered with an even, bright lemon-yellow enamel, the interiors and the base reserved in white, the base inscribed with a six-character reign mark within a double ring in underglaze blue.

Exhibited: Evolution to Perfection. Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection/Evolution vers la perfection. Céramiques de Chine de la Collection Meiyintang, Sporting d’Hiver, Monte Carlo, 1996, cat. no. 192.

Literature: Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, London, 1994-2000, vol. 2, no. 910.

Note: This pair of dishes is remarkable for its large size which is very unusual to find with this lemon-yellow enamel rather than the so-called ‘imperial-yellow’ glaze. Lemon-yellow dishes are usually smaller and come with square reign marks; compare a dish from the collection of H.M. Knight and K.W. Woollcombe-Boyce, sold in our New York rooms, 23rd September 1997, lot 304 and again at Christie’s London, 16th November 1998, lot 235.