Sotheby's. The Meiyintang Collection, Part IV - An Important Selection of Imperial Chinese Porcelains, Hong Kong, 09 oct. 2012
A Fine Pair of Aubergine-Glazed Saucer Dishes, Marks and period of Yongzheng (1723-1735)
Lot 7. A Fine Pair of Aubergine-Glazed Saucer Dishes, Marks and period of Yongzheng (1723-1735); 11.3 cm., 4 1/2 in. Estimate 350,000 - 450,000 HKD. Lot sold 740,000 HKD. Photo Sotheby's 2012
each delicately potted with a slightly recessed centre, the rounded flared sides resting on a short straight foot, finely incised on the exterior with the 'Eight Buddhist Emblems' tied with ribbons, between incised fillets around the rim and foot, covered overall with a deep aubergine glaze with a slight iridescence, the base reserved in white and inscribed with a six-character reign mark within a double ring in underglaze blue
Provenance: Collection of J.F. Woodthorpe.
Collection of H.M. Knight.
Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 29th November 1979, lot 347.
Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 17th May 1988, lot 83
Literature: Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, London, 1994-2010, vol. 2, no. 892.
Note: Although the aubergine glaze colour had been developed already in the Xuande period (AD 1426-35), it remained very rare until the Qing dynasty, when it became popular mainly for bowls and dishes. Dishes with similar engraved designs are illustrated in John Ayers, The Baur Collection Geneva: Chinese Ceramics, Geneva, 1968-74, vol. III, pls. A 476 and 477; another pair from Elphinstone collection is in the Sir Percival David Collection in the British Museum, London, see Margaret Medley, Illustrated Catalogue of Ming and Ch'ing Monochrome in the Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, London, 1973, nos. B 585 and 586; and a single dish is illustrated in Qingdai danse you ciqi tezhan [Special exhibition of monochrome glazed porcelain of the Qing dynasty], National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1981, cat. no. 45.
A pair of similar dishes from the Goldschmidt collection, sold in these rooms 13th November 1990, lot 69, is illustrated in The Tsui Museum of Art. Chinese Ceramics IV: Qing Dynasty, Hong Kong, 1995, pl. 30; another pair from the J.M. Hu Family Collection was sold in our New York rooms 23rd September 1995, lot 428; and one from the collection of Dr. Per Hedenius, sold in our London rooms 9th December 1975, lot 160, was included in the exhibition Chinesische Keramik. Meisterwerke aus Privatsammlungen, Museum für Ostasiatische Kunst, Cologne, 1988, cat. no. 124.