Lot 1379. A rare famille verte and iron-red-decorated 'birthday' dish, Kangxi six-character mark in underglaze blue within a double circle and of the period (1662-1722), 7 1/8 in. (18 cm.) diam. Estimate USD 20,000 - USD 30,000. Price realised USD 74,500. © Christie's Images Ltd 2010 

Of shallow form, finely decorated in the interior with Shoulao holding a ruyi scepter while seated on a green and yellow mat beside a recumbent deer and bundle of wrapped scrolls, his attendant to one side tending to an incense burner set atop a rootwood stand, the everted rim painted in iron red with a design of the 'hundred' bats.

Provenance: Christie's, London, 24 May 1966, lot 114 (part).

Note: This rare dish is a variation of the 'hundred bats' dish decorated with a border of iron-red bats on the everted rim, such as lot 1373. The scene of Shoulao and an attendant in the center of this dish replace the incised hong fu qi tian mark surrounded by incised dragons found on that dish, and others like it. As Shoulao is the god of Longevity, and the ruyi scepter he holds is also a symbol of longevity, this dish and the following dish, may have belonged to a set of so-called 'birthday' dishes made for the 60th birthday of the emperor Kangxi in 1713. 

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 16 - 17 September 2010, New York