Lot 3152. A pair of  famille verte chargers, Kangxi period (1662-1722); 14 ¼ in. (36.3 cm.) diam. Estimate USD 6,000 - USD 8,000. Price Realized USD 25,000. © Christie's Image Ltd 2015

Each dish is decorated on the interior with a different scene from an historical play or novel, one depicting two gentlemen in separate sedan chairs being confronted by attackers bearing weapons while their attendants flee, the other with a warrior on horseback confronting foot soldiers carrying halberds standing near a tent in which a scholar sits at a table while his attendant prepares to burn incense. The everted rim of each dish is decorated with crane medallions against an iron-red florette-diaper ground. The exterior is decorated with three flower sprays in iron-red and green glaze, and the base has a leaf mark in underglaze blue.

Provenance: Ralph M. Chait Galleries, New York.

Exhibited: The Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, 1936.

Note: The present dishes belong to a group of Kangxi famille verte dishes depicting various narrative scenes from popular novels or dramas, and with brocade decorations on the rims. Two such examples are illustrated by Regina Krahl and Clarissa von Spee in Chinese Ceramics from the Gulexuan Collection, Germany, 2003, nos. 101 and 102. Another was included in the exhibition Weaving China's Past: The Amy S. Clague Collection of Chinese Textiles, Phoenix Art Museum, 2000, no. 15. A further example is in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, from the Salting Bequest (accession no. C.1202-1910).

Christie's. FINE CHINESE CERAMICS AND WORKS OF ART, 15 - 16 March 2015, New York, Rockefeller Plaza