Lot 929. Property from the Dawentang Collection. A rare pair of small falangcai ruby-red ground 'chrysanthemul' dishes, Yongzheng blue enamel four-character marks in double squares and of the period (1723-1735); 9cm diam. Price realised HKD 3,175,000 (Estimate HKD 2,500,000 – HKD 5,000,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

Provenance: Sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 29 October 1991, lot 247

Offered at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 9 October 2012, lot 3069

Literature: Peter Y.K. Lam, Hong Kong Choices: Ming and Qing Imperial Porcelain from Three Prominent Collections, Arts of Asia, Hong Kong, 2017, p.66, fig. 25

Chinese Ceramics from the Dawentang Collection, Vol. II, Hong Kong, 2019, pp.382-387, nos. 60-61

Regina Krahl, Arts of Asia, Hong Kong, July - August 2020, p.125, fig. 2

Exhibited: Hong Kong Museum of Art, Honouring Tradition and Heritage: Min Chiu Society at Sixty, Hong Kong, 18 December 2020 – 28 April 2021, cat. no. 115

Note ::This pair of delightful dishes are decorated with sprays of chrysanthemum against a rich ruby-red ground. The petals are vividly detailed in white and pale yellow at the centre, while the leaves are picked out in turquoise and lime green.

The ruby-red enamel was originally developed in Europe, but Chinese craftsmen made significant improvements through reducing the proportion of colloidal gold and the amount of tin, which symbolised a breakthrough development. According to the Qing court archives, on the 8th day of the 9th month in the Yongzheng 10th year (1732), the Enamel Workshop records: “A total of nine pairs of painted enamel ‘chrysanthemum’ dishes, bowls, tea cups, and wine cups were produced and presented to the emperor”. The present pair of dishes is presumably one of the dishes documented in the records.

A pair of similar ‘chrysanthemum’ dishes can be found in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Porcelain with Painted Enamels of Qing Yongzheng Period (1723-1735), Taipei, 2013, no.9, collection number: guci 17107, 17108 and a slightly larger one was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, The Imperial Sale, 1 June 2011, lot 3649.

A related ruby-red ground Yongzheng-marked dish but enamelled with bamboo from the National Palace Museum, is recorded in Special Exhibition of Ch’ing Dynasty Enamelled Porcelains of the Imperial Ateliers, Taipei, 1992, p.197, no.99; and a pair enamelled with prunus is illustrated op.cit., pp.42-43, no. 11.