Lot 3053. A fine doucai 'Mandarin Duck' dish, Mark and period of Yongzheng; 17.8 cm., 7 in. Estimate 500,000 -- 700,000 HKD. Lot sold 1,360,000 HKD. Photo: Sotheby's.

finely potted with shallow rounded sides supported on a footless base, painted on the interior with a cluster of slender lotus with red-tipped petals supported on curved studded stems, their furling pads naturalistically detailed in two tones of green with veins and insect holes along the edges, flanked by a pair of mandarin ducks swimming on the gently rippling pond below, the enamored birds turned towards another and detailed with fiery iron-red crests and feathering in apple-green, aubergine and pale orange, all within a double circle repeated at the rim, the reverse similarly painted with a continuous scene of mandarin ducks and clusters of lotus radiating between line borders around the wall, below a narrow band of alternating yellow, aubergine and green five-clawed dragons in pursuit of 'flaming pearls', the countersunk base inscribed in underglaze blue with a six-character reign mark.