A famille verte dish, Early Kangxi period, circa 1670. Estimate $6,000 – $8,000. Photo Christie's Image Ltd 2015

The dish is decorated in the interior with two ladies, probably the Qiao sisters (Erqiao), sitting side by side in a garden setting, one seated on a cloth-draped garden stool, holding a scroll, the other with a ruyi scepter placed on the table beside her. The dish is supported on an unglazed channeled foot. 11 in. (7.9 cm.) diam.

Provenance: The Chinese Porcelain Company, New York.

Notes: The Qiao sisters appear in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.  The elder married the powerful warlord Sun Ce, while the younger married the general Zhou Yu. Their depiction was a popular one during the Qing dynasty, and they are usually dressed and coiffed, as here, in Qing style. 

The unglazed channeled foot that appears on the present dish appears to have been used by the potters at Jingdezhen for a short period of time around 1670, and disappears in the second half of the Kangxi period. For other examples of Kangxi-period dishes with this feature see An Era of Inspiration, 17th Century Porcelain from the Collection of Julia and John Curtis; Christie's New York, lots 3581, 3583, and 3589.

Christie's. FINE CHINESE CERAMICS AND WORKS OF ART, 17 - 18 September 2015, New York, Rockefeller Plaza