Lot 1602. An extremely rare 'famille-rose' and lemon-yellow-back charger, mark and period of Yongzheng (1723-1735); 35.6 cn., 14 in. Estimate 800,000 — 1,000,000 HKD. Lot sold 980,000 HKD. Photo: Sotheby's 2009.

with curved sides rising from a short straight foot to an everted mouthrim, finely painted on the interior with the Daoist immortal Magu walking beside a cart laden with a bouquet of flowers drawn by a deer, reserved on white-ground and bordered by a band of green-enameled diaper motif, alternating with four cartouches containing floral sprigs and plum blossom florets, the reverse enamelled in lemon-yellow and moulded with a band of brightly enameled turquoise waves skirting the foot, the base in white with a six-character mark within double circles underglaze-blue.

Provenance: A French Collection.

Note: It is extremely rare to find famille-rose enamelled dishes carved and enamelled on the exterior with crashing waves and no other example appears to have been published. A Yongzheng dish of this size, with reign mark and of the period, similarly decorated on the exterior with a yellow-ground and delicately carved and green-enamelled waves, but of ogee form and with a plain white interior, is illustrated in Qingdai yuyao ciqi, vol. 1, pt. II, Beijing, 2005, pl. 193. 

The meticulously carved waves are known on two monochrome dishes also of this size; a yellow-glazed example, in the Leshantang Collection, is published in The Leshantang Collection of Chinese Porcelain, Taipei, 2005, pl. 37; and a white-glazed dish was sold in our New York rooms, 1st June 1993, lot 344. This decorative and colour scheme was employed from the Ming dynasty, as seen on yellow ground bowls decorated with incised and green-enamelled dragons above crashing waves, which continued through to the Qing period; see a Yongzheng example of this dragon and wave design sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 31st October 1994, lot 570A.  

The interior of the present dish depicts Magu, the Daoist Goddess of longevity, returning from an excursion to the mountains in search of lingzhi fungus. Magu is often portrayed as a young and beautiful girl wearing an apron of leaves and carrying a basket of lingzhi fungus or peaches and typically accompanied by a spotted deer, the only animal capable of finding the sacred fungus of immortality. According to legend, after Magu became an immortal she witnessed the ocean changing into mulberry fields three times, hence implying her long life, and the crashing waves on the exterior of the present dish may refer to these events. First appearing on early-Ming porcelain, she gained popularity during the Kangxi period and dishes of this design were made for women's birthday celebrations.

For a smaller Yongzheng dish, with reign mark and of the period, decorated with a similar scene of Magu on a plain white background, see one sold at Christie's London, 8th December 1975, lot 143. A dish similarly composed of a figural scene and a panel and diaper border, with Yongzheng reign mark and of the period, was sold in our London rooms, 29th November 1977, lot 141. 

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art, Hong Kong, 08 Oct 2009