An iron-red-decorated dish, Kangxi period (1662-1722)

24 septembre 2017

An iron-red-decorated dish, Kangxi period (1662-1722)

Lot 1217. An iron-red-decorated dish, Kangxi period (1662-1722), 7 7/8 in. (20 cm.) diam. Estimate USD 15,000 - USD 20,000. Price realised USD 15,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2017

The dish is decorated in the center with Shoulao seated holding alingzhi beside a recumbent spotted deer, and a staff suspending a basket filled with peaches, all within a band of bats on the everted rim. The exterior is decorated with petal lappets and a leafy band with flowers.

Note: The present dish is replete with wishes for long-life and prosperity, including the God of Longevity, a deer, peaches, lingzhi fungus and bats. According to R. E. Scott in For the Imperial Court: Qing Porcelain from the Percival David Foundation, London, 1997, p. 48, such dishes were unlikely actually to have been used during the birthday celebrations, but were probably presented to guests as a gift.

Such dishes were made in sets, of which one type features incised characters surrounded by a similar border of iron-red bats: see, for example, a Kangxi-marked dish illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - Miscellaneous Enamelled Porcelains, Plain Tricoloured Porcelains, Shenzhen, 2009, p. 21, no. 18. Another type features a related composition of Shoulao decorated in the famille verte palette, such as the Kangxi-marked dish sold at Christie's New York, 16-17 September 2010, lot 1379. The present dish is particularly unusual in its exclusive use of shades of iron-red to depict Shoulao.

A rare famille verte and iron-red-decorated 'birthday' dish, Kangxi six-character mark in underglaze blue within a double circle and of the period (1662-1722), 7 1/8 in. (18 cm.) diam. Sold for USD 74,500 at Christie's New York, 16-17 September 2010, lot 1379. © Christie's Images Ltd 2010

(Cf. my post: A rare famille verte and iron-red-decorated 'birthday' dish, Kangxi Kangxi mark and period (1662-1722)

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 14 - 15 September 2017, New York