Lot 1769. A small aubergine-glazed incised dish, Yongzheng six-character mark in underglaze blue within a double circle and of the period (1723-1735); 4 9/16 in. (11.6 cm.) diam. Estimate USD 12,000 - USD 18,000. Price realised USD 32,500. © Christie's Images Ltd 2011. 

With shallow rounded sides, the exterior incised with a frieze of pomegranate meander, covered all over with a glaze of rich aubergine color.

Note: An aubergine-glazed saucer dish of similar size with the same pomegranate decoration is illustrated in the Museum of East Asian Art, Bath, Inaugural Exhibition - Chinese Ceramics, vol. 1, 1993, no. 203. One was sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 26 April 2004, lot 1088 and another in these rooms, 16 September 1999, lot 379. The design of the bajixiang appears to be more common than that of pomeranate scroll on aubergine-glazed dishes of this type. See, for example, the dish illustrated by J. Ayers, Chinese Ceramics in the Baur Collection, vol. 2, Geneva, 1999, pl. 318 [A476]; and another in the National Palace Museum, illustrated in Catalogue of Special Exhibition of Ch'ing Monochromes, Taiwan, 1981, no. 45.

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art Part I and Part II Including Property from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, New York, 24 March 2011