A fine Imperial yellow-glazed saucer dish, Hongzhi six-character mark and of the period. Photo courtesy Bonhams

Covered all over in an even rich yellow egg-yolk glaze, the base with a six-character Imperial kaishu mark within double circles in underglaze-blue. 21.3cm diam. Estimate HK$ 400,000 - 600,000 (€38,000 - 58,000)

There are not very many examples of Hongzhi period (1488-1505) ceramic wares that remain from this short seventeen years reign, even in important museum collections around the world. White being the most common monochrome colour to appear in ceramic wares in this period, yellow monochrome (as exhibited by the current lot) is considered rarer than white. It is difficult to find well-preserved examples of yellow-glazed Hongzhi dishes as the thin overglaze yellow is easily worn.

Compare an identical yellow-glazed dish with Hongzhi six-character mark in the Qing court collection, Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Monochrome Porcelain. The Complete Collection of the Treasures of the Palace Museum, Shanghai, 1999, p.44, no.39. See also two similar and one identical-sized yellow-glazed dishes dated to the Hongzhi period in the British Museum, London, individually bequeathed by Harry Oppenheim (accession no.OA1947.7-12.291), Marjory Coldwell (accession no.OA1943.2-15.16) and Sir John Addis (accession no.OA1984.2-2.4), illustrated by Jessica Harrison-Hall,Ming Ceramics in the British Museum, London, 2001, pp.185-187, no.7:18, 7:19 & 7:20. For an example sold at auction, see a Hongzhi yellow-glazed dish sold at Christie's Paris, 15 june 2005, lot 204; and again in Sotheby's Hong Kong, 8 October 2013, lot 224. 

Bonhams. FINE CHINESE CERAMICS AND WORKS OF ART. Hong Kong. 24 Nov 2013